For the Sake of the World
by CarnelianFox
Summary: The Magic Council gave an order: shut down the dark guild known as Cursed Fang. Hoping to prepare for the guild battle and protect Carla, Happy yearns to train to master the legendary Shining Aera. Natsu and Lucy? He's going to go in fists ablaze and she's going to do what she can for his sake. Set after "Three Little Words" and before the Tartarus Arc. Rated T to be safe.
1. Top Priority

**I'm back and I finally decided to do this!**

 **I don't own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima (arguably the greatest creative genius of all time) does.**

 **OC's like Ester, Crimson, and the dark guild Cursed Fang are mine. OC's Garnet and Ruby belong to TheGreatSakura. Exceeds such as Salberay are canon. You can find the list of Exceeds that actually appear in Fairy Tail on the wiki, which I recommend because many of the Exceeds are only briefly referenced throughout the Edolas Arc.**

 **Set before the Tartarus Arc and after my story, 'Three Little Words'.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 1: Top Priority**

In the Kingdom of Fiore were hundreds of magical guilds. Of those magical guilds was the legendary Fairy Tail in the town of Magnolia. All was peaceful there. Well…as peaceful as could be.

"Give me back my burrito!" Natsu slugged Gray in the face.

"Give me back my pants!" Gray punched him back. The Fire Dragon Slayer and Ice Make wizard were once again going at it without a care in the world.

"Someone should get them some leashes and muzzles," Happy commented as he munched on a fish, sitting nonchalantly on the bar counter. Sitting next to him was his beloved white beauty, Carla.

"Honestly, those hooligans have no regard for the safety of others, do they?" Carla asked agitatedly as she took a sip of her favorite Darjeeling tea. She felt Happy grasp her arm and smiled. She knew he could be counted on, and she loved him for that. He may have seemed meek and vulnerable, but he never backed down, not even at the death's door.

"Natsu! Gray! Knock it off!" Lucy pleaded, trying to get them to stop. "You know who is going to be peeved!"

"IT'S NOT HER BUSINESS ANYWAY!" the brawling comrades countered in unison.

"Oh? Wrecking our home is none of my business?" the ever-elegant and powerful Erza Scarlet asked, standing behind them with her arms crossed. Frightened, Natsu and Gray tensed up and rigidly turned their heads back towards her. "How about you two knock it off?"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" they both complied.

Lucy let out a sigh of relief. Glancing toward the bar counter where Happy and Carla sat, the blonde came to realize that Carla had come to the guild alone today. She asked the white Exceed, "Say, Carla, where's Wendy? You two are almost never apart."

"She's taking lessons from Miss Porlyusica. Sometimes her stubbornness knows no bounds," Carla answered with a lonely gleam in her eyes.

"Aww! She could have at least walked you here!" Happy protested.

Carla simply shook her head and replied, "I told her not to. We only live up the hill. It's not more than a five minute walk."

"Speaking of walks, I think Crimson and Garnet come back today," Happy recalled.

Crimson and Garnet were two brother Exceeds. Crimson was six. Garnet was twelve. They had been orphaned until a few months prior when they had finally been reunited with their mother, Ruby. Garnet was a wandered who kept to himself until he decided to take a fishing class that Happy just so happened to have volunteered to teach. Crimson was once a member of a dark guild called Cursed Fang, but he left because he fell for Carla and gained a sense of morality along the way.

Happy, along with fellow Exceed Samuel, had gone out of his way to find their mother, Ruby, which wasn't as hard as it could have been. She just so happened to be living in town. It was a beautiful reunion. On top of that, she had been dating the orange Exceed with the southern accent called Salberay and they had recently gotten married out in the country-side.

"Ah, yes. I wonder how the wedding went," Carla mused and sipped more of her tea.

Behind the bar, Juvia was giving Yukino lessons on the art of coffee making so the Celestial wizard could go back to Sabertooth as a better barista. Juvia had discovered an uncanny talent for making coffee several months ago, and her coffee was quite a huge hit.

"Carla-sama, wasn't Crimson-sama a part of Cursed Fang?" Yukino asked, daring to mention the dark guild.

"Yes. I'm so glad he left it. He didn't belong there," Carla answered with a wave of relief in her voice.

"Apparently, neither did their Celestial wizard, Seri. Rumor has it that she left to live on a faraway island and got married. She's even expecting a baby," Yukino informed the wizards nearby.

Lucy was pleasantly shocked. With the rarity of Celestial wizards, it was always a shame to encounter one in a dark guild. "Really?" she asked excitedly. She received a nod from Yukino. "That's awesome! How do you know?"

"The Magic Council retracted her bounty," the silver haired Celestial mage responded matter-of-factly. The barista lessons seemingly gave her a confidence boost. "Not to mention their spy."

"They sent a spy to watch her?" Lucy asked flatly. She understood why such a thing would be deemed necessary. Nonetheless, it seemed like a creepy decision.

"Stay, go, yes, no, I like fish," Happy sang softly. Simultaneously humored and perplexed, Carla shot him a kind glance with her head tilted at a slight angle.

"Lucy, hold me! I'm scared!" Natsu jumped into Lucy's arms and cowered. There were only two things he was truly afraid of: transportation and Erza, both with good reason.

"Natsu, I'm not going to hurt you now that you've ceased making a fool of yourself," Erza sighed. She went behind the bar and got a slice of birthday cake out of the small lacrima-powered refrigerator.

"Whose birthday was it, Erza-sama?" Yukino asked curiously with a delighted sparkle in her eye.

"Someone's," Erza answered with a shrug and proceeded to eat the cake.

"EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING!" Master Makarov erupted into the guild and roared.

"With all due respect, Master, I refuse to waste this cake in such a manner!" Erza called back.

"Whoa, Gramps, what's got you in a hurry?" Gray asked curiously.

"Where are your clothes?" Makarov questioned irritably. "Never mind that. At the meeting I was just at, we discussed an order passed down to all guilds in Fiore directly from the Magic Council."

The whole guild fell silent, waiting for him to continue. The silence was loud, gaining volume from the suspense. When Makarov continued to say nothing, Natsu finally spoke up. "And?"

"We're to take down Cursed Fang as soon as possible," Makarov informed them, a job easier said than done.


	2. Porlyusica the Trainer

**Chapter 2! The second chapter! I am getting myself psyched up for this story. I have an idea as to how I the fights will go. I'm still sort of planning out the process of getting to those fights. I'm sure many of you are aware that there are things I sometimes write by the seat of my pants just because I get so eager to write this stuff. Thus, I tend to update often or go days or even weeks without updating before I do again. There are times when I'm not even all that sure if I had something planned subconsciously and just spontaneously remembered it or if I just made it up as I went along (like "oh, that's an awesome idea! I'll fit that there when I get to it!").**

 **But enough of that stuff. You all came here for a story.**

 **Happy: Everybody say "Aye, sir"!**

 **Everybody: AYE, SIR!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2: Porlyusica the Trainer**

"We're to take down Cursed Fang as soon as possible," Makarov informed them, a job easier said than done.

"…Piece of cake! We'll break those jerks in a flash!" Natsu growled excitedly, cracking his knuckles. "And Happy can do that Shiny Arrow thing—"

"Shining Aera," Lucy corrected him matter-of-factly.

"Whatever. He can kick all of their butts in one fell swoop!" Natsu continued excitedly, clearly itching for a fight.

"It's not that simple, Natsu. Don't you remember? I couldn't move after it wore off. I was lucky to catch their master off guard," Happy reminded him. Just thinking about the incredible power that surged through his body that time gave him an adrenaline spike. Of course, he'd be able to make better use of it if he could expand his reserve of magic power.

"As I see it, we'll need to make sure we're in top form. It's the same of all legal guilds in the hunt for these crooked murderers. I'm going to allow you a short time to train. Hopefully, we can deal with them quickly. There are other dark guilds that need to be stopped as well," Makarov continued the debriefing.

Being given training time caught Happy's attention.

"Master, I have a question," Lucy raised her hand. Something about the situation caught her amiss.

"Yes, what is it, Lucy?" Makarov asked with an unnerving sweetness in his voice. It was almost like that time he got drunk and lightly spanked her while scolding Natsu.

"Uh…why is Cursed Fang top priority when we recently found evidence of Tartarus' activity?" she asked, setting Makarov's tone aside.

"It was a tough choice on the Magic Council's part, but they deemed it safer to go after Cursed Fang since we have more information on them," the third/sixth guild master answered, conveying the wariness of the council to the guild members quite effectively.

"Well, with this 'new world' stuff they're trying to pull by going around and killing off random wizards, there's no question that they've got to be stopped," Gray concluded. Several others murmured in agreement. He kept the odd aura of the ice from his team's recent expedition to the Sun Village in the back of his mind and held his focus up to more pressing matters.

Later, Happy went to Porlyusica's house in the East Forest to see if she would help him with training. She was a medical expert, not to mention a former resident of Edolas, from which the Exceed species hailed. He hoped from the depths of his heart that Porlyusica could help him hone his magic so he could protect Carla. Carla… Thinking about her made him feel rejuvenated. She was his motivation. He knocked on Porlyusica's door. The older woman answered.

"Oh. Are you here for your humans?" she asked him flatly.

"What?" Happy tilted his head in confusion.

Natsu, who was laden with training weights, saw Happy at the door and waved to him excitedly. "Hey, Happy! You here to train, too?"

"Natsu?!"

"Happy?" one of the most familiar voices that could have ever called out his name did. No, it wasn't Carla like he hoped. It was Lucy. She wasn't wearing training weights from head to toe, but she wore a pink sweat suit and was lifting dumbbells.

"Lucy?! Oh, thank goodness. You're finally going to lose some weight," Happy let out a sigh of relief, which prompted Lucy to formulate devious plots to get back at him for that comment. "Natsu, what are you doing here? Are you helping Lucy lose weight?"

"Nope. I'm-a train my pants off so I can slug that candle-headed guy to the moon!" Natsu exclaimed with his usual fiery determination. By 'candle-headed guy', Natsu was referring to Cursed Fang's Hino, a fire wizard who was very tall and muscular and typically wore a toga on the lower half of his body. His most distinguishing feature was his flaming head. "I wanna eat that head."

"Don't eat the head," Lucy requested.

"Okay," Natsu easily complied. "I just can't say no to her, Hap. I just—she—the-the chest and the hair and the eyes and I just—I quit!" He crouched down on the floor and curled up into a ball.

"I'm just supposed to be training Wendy, so please get out of my house," Porlyusica requested. "And stop being such a weirdo in broad daylight when people can clearly see you! 1 A.M. exists for a reason. You human…"

"I'm very sorry about him!" Lucy apologized sheepishly and picked Natsu up off the floor. "Hey! I am getting stronger! I'm going to do my best in this fight!"

"Where is Wendy anyway?" Happy finally thought to ask.

"She's on the roof where the wind blows strongly," Porlyusica answered, slightly more pleasant than she was moments ago. Upon picking that up, Happy inferred that Porlyusica must have been fairly fond of Wendy.

"Is Carla here?" Happy asked excitedly, his tail flicking erratically at the thought of his beloved.

"Nope, sorry," Natsu answered with a shake of his head.

Happy noticed that Lucy and Natsu's fingers were interlocked and cooed, "Ooh! Hand holding!"

With the utter nonsense in her home, Porlyusica muttered, "I need to get Makarov to start paying me. Still, to decide to go up against such an opponent… That is just like you, Makarov. Bob and Goldmine are probably aiding in the effort, too. Yajima should stay out of trouble…" Neither the two humans nor the cat had noticed a softness in her ruby red eyes. "I just hope none of my comrades go to join poor Rob."

"Huh?" Natsu's ears, which were on par with those of a canine, twitched. Lucy found the profound movement of the human ear to be odd and somehow hypnotically adorable. "Who is Rob?"

"…Never mind that! If you're going to invade my house, do something productive and get back to training!" Porlyusica yelled at him and Lucy. Pointing to Happy, she ordered, "You! Come with me!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy yelled with gusto. She led him outside the way he came in. "What are we doing out here."

"Magic is an art of body, mind, and soul. The mind conducts. The body channels. The spirit enhances. I want you to meditate out here for a while. You'll find it energizing, I'm sure," the elder woman instructed and went back inside to leave him to his thoughts.

Happy sat down on the soft, grassy ground, crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and began to breathe deeply. Very quickly, he got bored of it, but he kept pushing himself to continue the meditation. If it was really going to help him get stronger (without any harmful side effects), it was worth a shot. After the first view minutes of racing thoughts, his mind began to slow down and go numb. He felt somehow elevated in his stationary state. He was calm. He was alert. He was alive.

"Happy?" a voice that was like the echo of angels rang out and snapped him back into reality. He slowly opened his eyes, getting reacquainted with his sense of self, and saw Carla standing before him. "What are you doing?"

"Just meditating. What brings you around?" he asked pleasantly, taking her paw in his.

"I just came to pick up Wendy…" the white female replied, blushing on contact.

"Miss Porlyusica sent her up to the roof."

"The roof?!"

"It's not as bad as it sounds!"

Fire suddenly erupted from the chimney of Porlyusica's house. Carla jumped back, startled. Happy didn't flinch, assuming it was just Natsu training, which it was.

"What is your opinion on Cursed Fang?" Carla asked him curiously, changing the subject.

"They're a problem for sure," Happy replied, gazing at the flames on the chimney. Indeed, Cursed Fang was a problem to which the legal guilds of Fiore hoped to find a solution to before their radical behavior got even further out of hand.


	3. Lucy's Favorite Trespasser

**Here is chapter 3. There is Cappy in here, but it sort of ended up becoming a NaLu chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3: Lucy's Favorite Trespasser**

Lucy had stayed at Porlyusica's house longer than Natsu, Happy, Wendy, and Carla (granted she came for a pickup) had, which surprised her and all the while made her feel accomplished. By reading through books she found in a small library in Porlyusica's basement, she had read about spells and theories stemming from Celestial magic. She thought, _Wow! It's more expansive than I thought! If I can master some of these spells—!_

"It's almost sundown," Porlyusica informed her from the doorway, interrupting the blonde's thoughts. "I'd try to make my way back into town if I were you."

"Right. Thank you so much for today," Lucy thanked the older woman politely and sincerely. After giving a slight bow, Lucy left the mini library, left the tree house, and made her way back into the streets of the peaceful, yet active Magnolia. Good old Magnolia.

Lucy finally made it to her house. She stretched a bit, relieving some of the tension in her body. Opening the door, she stepped in and took a quick look around. It didn't appear as though any of her friends had broken in and made themselves at home like they usually did. No paw prints. No hair balls or scratches. No scorch marks. No frozen spots or swords. No stray underwear or crumbs.

"Well, this is a weird change of pace…" Lucy mumbled to herself. She expected herself to be happier about having a secure home, but she loved her companions and it didn't quite feel right not to have them eagerly awaiting her homecoming.

"Lucy! Is that you?!" a familiar voice shouted from upstairs. Rapid, excited footsteps made their way toward the stairs and Lucy went to the bottom of the staircase to see who it was. The next thing she knew, a pink haired pyromaniac tumbled down the stairs and landed on top of her. She blushed deeply as she gazed up at Natsu's smiling face. "Hey, Lucy. What took ya?"

"Um… Natsu…?" the blonde squeaked.

"Aye, sir!" Happy flew down the stairs and right into Natsu, pushing him closer to Lucy. They had gotten so close, in fact, that their lips had made contact. Accidental as it was, the two of them enjoyed the kiss enough to prolong it. The blue Exceed watched them with a wide grin. "Natsu and Lucy. I ship it!"

Evidently they hadn't heard him. Either that or they ignored him, because there was not even a twitch of acknowledgment at his comment. Thus, he deemed it safe to practice his dance skills and started dancing.

Natsu broke the kiss and got off of Lucy. Chuckling sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head and apologized, "Heh-heh… Sorry about that, Luce."

"N-no… That's fine… It was…nice…" Lucy admitted shyly, her chocolate brown eyes glancing briefly into his onyx eyes. They both looked over at Happy, who had stopped mid-dance to see them stare at him. "This got very awkward very quickly."

"Aye, sir," Happy agreed.

"Uh…hey, Lucy, was that your first kiss?" Natsu asked, trying to break the tension in the room.

"Y-yeah, kind of…" she answered.

"Aww! So cute!" Happy cooed and went into the kitchen. Lucy expected him to raid the place for fish, but he started brewing tea instead. "I'm going to borrow some of your tea, Lucy! Um, forever!"

"Uh…isn't it a little late for you to be having tea, Happy? It's getting dark out. You'll be up all night," Lucy cautioned the blue cat.

"Yay!" Happy cheered.

"Your small cat metabolism can't handle it!"

"I accept your challenge!"

"Okay, that's enough. Happy, we'd better go," Natsu said and pulled Happy out of the kitchen.

"Can I get my ceramic Carla first?" Happy begged and gave Natsu the cute kitty eyes. You'd have to have a heart more steeled up than Gajeel's to defy those eyes.

"Fine. Go, hurry," Natsu urged and Happy flew up the stairs. Upon coming down, he was much slower, hefting a life-sized ceramic version of Carla in his arms. "Need help?"

"Please be gentle…" Happy strained. Natsu relieved Happy of his wonderful burden. "Thanks, Natsu. You're a lifesaver. I can't wait to glaze it!"

"Glaze, paint, I don't care. We'd better go. Good night, Lucy," Natsu bid her farewell and walked out the door, Happy following closely behind.

The following day, Lucy arrived at the guild to find Happy glazing the clay Carla while the real Carla posed as a model. She heard Happy say to Carla, "I want to get the coloration perfect."

"Do whatever you must," Carla told him. He interpreted that as permission to compare the brown glazes he had to her eyes and held the pallet close to her face. "Did you make that yourself?"

"Aye. Why? Is the butt misshapen?" Happy asked concernedly, glancing back at the sculpture.

"N-no! Continue," the female cat stammered, blushing at the question. "It's beautiful, Happy."

"Thanks, Carla!" the male cat thanked her gleefully. She couldn't help but smile at his unbridled enthusiasm.

"You're very welcome," she replied.

Lucy smiled at the cute cat couple and her gaze made its way over to Natsu, who was having an argument with Gajeel about who was more motion sick.

"You puke just thinking about trains, Salamander!" Gajeel yelled at the Fire Dragon Slayer.

"You puke on waterslides!" Natsu countered.

"At least I have to get on them first!"

"Waterslides themselves don't move! Your stomach must be the weaker one!"

"Then why'd you get sick on it, too?!"

"GRR!"

"GRR!"

"Why does he have to go around picking fights?" Lucy mumbled to herself, but she knew in her gut that she couldn't rule out the possibility that Gajeel started it. As good a team as those two could make, they wouldn't hesitate to tear up the city just to see which one of them was stronger.

"Does it really matter?" Gray asked them, slightly annoyed with them. "You both have really weak stomachs, so what difference does it make?"

The two Dragon Slayers conceded, knowing Gray had a point.

As Lucy watched the debate end, she suddenly thought of that kiss last night and blushed heavily. Her heart raced. It was almost like the hole-digging incident, only it felt…real.


	4. Gray VS the Jester

**Okay, here is chapter four. It's a fight chapter. I'm not great at fight scenes, but I hope this turned out okay. I got the idea from the most recent episode of Fairy Tail (which I had been eagerly awaiting ever since I read the corresponding manga chapter). Of course, I didn't want to recreate Jackal, though it might be fun to base a character off of him. I just thought 'explosion', and then I thought 'I need something a tad maniacal'. Thus, this chapter came to be.**

 **I wanted to pick an opponent who absolutely would not tolerate this new character's behavior, and it came down to either Gray or Erza, and you can see which one I chose in that bout of randomness.**

 **Also, I used the word 'hell' for the first time in a story, but the use of it does tie into canon events. It kind of felt like a rush. So please bear with me and my compositional risk.**

 **Happy: Now you're coming out of your shell!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 4: Gray VS the Jester**

Three days later, Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Happy, Carla, and Gray had finished up catching some robbers (and going overboard again) and were about to leave Oshibana Town—which brought back fondly nostalgic memories for Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray, and Erza—when a Rune Knight tapped Gray on his bare shoulder.

"Hm? What is it?" Gray turned around to face the guard.

"My boy, where is your decency? You're going nude publicly," the Rune Knight rhymed. Erza's eyes narrowed as she glanced back at the guard.

"I'm wearing pants, you know," Gray informed him.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with me. I won't take long, you'll see," the guard continued his rhyming. He took Gray by the arm and dragged him along.

"What the heck's with you and rhyming?! Guys, help me out!" Gray begged as he was dragged away.

Feeling devious, Natsu asked, "And you are…?"

"C'mon, Natsu, don't be a jerk!" Gray yelled at his pink haired companion.

"We'll wait for you to get this settled out. You should be more responsible for your clothing," Erza decided. Thus, it was absolute.

As the notably suspicious Rune Knight dragged Gray around a corner, he let out a devious snicker. Gray couldn't help but ask, "What's your deal? No offense, but you're the oddest Rune Knight I've ever met."

"Heh-heh-heh! That's because I'm not! In my trap, you've been caught! Sorry, bud, but I've got to spill your blood!" the strange man laughed and threw off his uniform, appearing before Gray as a clown of some sort. He had a slim build, wore purple and orange striped pants with inflated legs, point red shoes, a puffy shirt that matched his pants, a pointy hat that matched his pants and shirt, and a white painted face that was otherwise a rainbow of teardrops and polygons. On the front of his shirt, in red, was Cursed Fang's emblem, which was some sort of fanged tri-hybrid animal. "Hey, now, I don't mean to pester. I'm just Cursed Fang's Jester!"

"…Not impressed," Gray yawned. "You're not very funny. Sorry, but it's the honest truth."

"Wha—why how rude of you! For that, I'll turn you black and blue!" the Jester hissed. He pulled some bouncy balls from his sleeves and threw them at Gray. They bounced off the ground and flew toward the Ice Make wizard when they exploded in mid-air.

Meanwhile, upon hearing the explosion, the rest of the mages of Fairy Tail jumped a bit, startled. Happy held Carla protectively. Natsu bared his sharp Dragon Slayer teeth. Lucy gasped and Wendy hid behind her.

Gray had created an ice pillar beneath his feet to avoid the blast. The Jester watched in amazement, balancing on a large bouncy ball. The ice pillar shattered from the force of the explosions and Gray used the moment to jump down towards the Jester, who pulled a large scythe out of his shirt. Gray decided to fight blade against blade and started to cast a spell in mid air. "Ice Make: Death Scythe!" A large scythe made entirely of ice appeared in his hands and the two sickles crossed with a _clang!_

"I didn't know ice could make that sound. My, my, your skills are profound!" the Jester laughed maniacally.

"You're insane! Did you know that?!" Gray yelled in annoyance. The Jester kicked the giant bouncy ball toward Gray, who deflected it with the ice sickle (no pun intended).

"I guess it's not wrong to say that you're strong. It looks like I'm in a pickle so I'll forget the sickle," the Jester decided, carelessly tossing the scythe aside. "Now you'll see the best spell ever made!" A playing card popped out of his sleeve and into his hand. "Without further ado, I introduce the Ace of Spades!" The card started to contort and morph until it took on the form of a large black sword.

"Pfft! You're kidding, right?" Gray scoffed.

"You rude, rude boy! I tried to warn you this was no mere toy!" the Jester growled angrily and lunged at Gray, who dodged not a moment too soon. Surprisingly agile, the Jester pivoted on one toe and went at Gray again, who was able to create Cold Excalibur just in time.

"Gray!" Natsu's voice called out as the team came running.

"He's fighting someone!" Happy pointed out.

"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious! It powers me up!" Erza said to Happy as she activated her Requip magic and now donned her Black Wing Armor.

"Was that sarcasm?" Happy asked, confused. He thought it was sarcasm based on the wording and the situation, but she said it in such a serious tone that he wasn't sure anymore.

"Butt out, you other flies! Or better yet, say goodbye!" the Jester growled and tossed some more of his bouncy bombs. Natsu grabbed Lucy and Wendy and leapt back as he consumed the explosion flames like spaghetti. Erza, utilizing her armor, flew upwards.

A bomb was heading straight for Carla at breakneck speed. She flinched when a cute voice called out to her, "Carla, look out!" She felt something push her and the bomb exploded, sending her and the something rocketing backwards.

She opened her eyes to see that it was Happy who pushed her and shielded her from the blast. She gasped, "Happy…! You protected me…!"

"Aye… I guess I did…" the blue tomcat agreed with a smile. "I guess I paid you back for that time in Edolas, huh…?" He was somewhat dazed and a little singed, but otherwise okay. "I've been working on my durability…"

She stared at him with wide, amazed brown eyes.

"That's it! You're about to regret the day you were born!" Gray said menacingly, which sent chills down the Jester's spine. "Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" The Ice Make wizard sent an abundance of pointed ice spears at the Jester, who attempted to block them all with his Ace of Spades. However, there were simply too many for him to block. "Ice Make: Knuckle!" A giant frozen fist fell onto the Jester, making him scream in pain. He had a notably long tongue, though Lucy had seen longer when she and Juvia had fought Vidaldus Taka in the Tower of Heaven. "You mess with a Fairy Tail wizard; you get the pain of a lifetime, pal, because then you're messing with all of us."

"I don't want to die… Here, have a banana cream pie…" the battered Jester offered, weakly holding up a mysterious pie with a shaky hand. Gray simply glared at the dark guild wizard with anger and disgust. The pie was suddenly encased in ice. The Jester marveled, "So you're the guild that opened hell's gate… Whether you fight Tartarus or Cursed Fang, you've sealed your fate…"

"That doesn't mean we can't try to take them on," Gray told him and stepped on his head. "Now kindly shut up. You're a good fighter, I'll give you that, but your rhymes tick me off. Have fun in jail."

"I'm going to be jailed? Hmm. I guess I failed…" the Jester wheezed before passing out.

A swarm of real Rune Knights marched in to seize the Jester and get a run-down of the situation. Gray couldn't help but ask one of them, "You guys are the real deal, right?"

"What? What kind of question is that?" the Rune Knight responded quizzically.

"Just making sure," Gray replied with a shrug.

Carla was supporting Happy, asking him, "How do you feel now?"

"Better. Are you okay?" the blue cat responded. The question earned him a kiss on the cheek. He swooned and laughed goofily. "Aye…!"

"Happy and I love our brown-eyed girls," Natsu mused, causing Lucy to blush.

"Why do you think he chose to ambush Gray-san alone, Erza-san?" Wendy asked curiously.

"If I had to guess," Erza theorized, "I'd say he knew he couldn't take on all of us, so he put on a ruse to take us on one at a time and utilize a divide-and-conquer tactic. He clearly underestimated Gray, though."

"Can we go now?" Natsu whined.

"Stop whining," Erza turned to him and commanded.

"But Erza…!" Natsu continued to whine.

The redhead promptly slugged him, knocking him out. Then, she slung him over her shoulder and announced, "Okay, _now_ we can go."


	5. Camping and a Basket

**So here is chapter five. It's kind of a filler chapter, but we all know I've had those buildups before. Besides, it's meant to be cute and fun, as Fairy Tail often is. Some of the concepts in this chapter seem like good ideas. I add this with no regrets.**

 **Gajeel: (playing with Myo's toes) And this little kitty had roast beef! And this little kitty had none!**

 **Mirajane: If Erza can do it, then I can, too! (jumps in the pool)**

 **Mira, no spoilers! Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 5: Camping and a Basket**

After the Jester incident, Team Natsu finally left Oshibana and started making their way back to Magnolia via a serene nature trail with a crystal clear river. Lucy, who could have been a nostalgia addict, balanced herself as she walked along the water's edge.

"Hey, lady, don't fall! Be careful!" a couple of canoe paddlers shouted towards her as they paddled by.

"Thanks!" Lucy called back with a wave. She disregarded the warning because unlike the narrow cobblestone curbs that lined the canals in Magnolia, the ground she trekked was quiet wide and level with itself. She thought for sure she wouldn't fall. However, she seemed to contradict herself when she tripped on a rock sticking out of the ground. She started to fall, but Natsu lunged toward her and grabbed her, breaking her fall.

"I've gotcha!" the Dragon Slayer yelled triumphantly.

"Natsu…" Lucy blushed and her brown eyes sparkled. It took her a moment—a brief but crucial moment—to realize that they both were falling into the river due to Natsu's forward momentum. "Oh, man! Natsu, we're—" Splash!

"Hey, Erza?" Gray called out, watching the entire ordeal over his shoulder. "You want me to go get them?"

"Lucy won't drown and you'll just try to give Natsu hypothermia," Erza said with a wave of her hand, not looking at him.

"Just because he gets on my nerves doesn't make me a serial killer!" Gray claimed defensively. "And how do you know she won't drown?"

"Her kindhearted personality and superior intellect are less dense than water," the redheaded she-knight answered flatly. Gray suspected that there were other reasons.

Happy was walking along, clutching Carla's paw in his. She looked him worriedly. She nudged him slightly and asked once again, "Are you sure you're not too hurt from the explosion?"

"Aye! It's nothing! We Exceeds are more than just cute faces and cool tails," Happy boasted on behalf of his species. She wasn't sure where his sudden pride in being an Exceed came from, but his enthusiasm made her smile a genuine smile nonetheless. "Like I said, I've been working on my durability."

"So I see," Carla purred. Happy took his paw out of hers only to wrap his arm around her shoulder. Lovingly, she rested her head on his shoulder. "Did you grow a bit?"

"Maybe a little," Happy answered with uncertainty.

"Hold it! Nobody move!" Erza commanded. The two young cats stopped walking. Wendy stopped sniffing the flowers. Gray stopped stripping. Natsu and Lucy stopped getting out of the river. Erza cleared her throat and, with ecstasy and excitement trilling in her voice, declared, "This is the perfect camping spot! We're right by the river. There are pretty flowers here. There's enough open dirt to keep a campfire from becoming a forest fire. The trees are parted nicely, giving us a view of the stars. Ooh, this is perfect! Happy, start catching dinner! Natsu, start a fire! Lucy, put Aquarius on standby! Gray, put some clothes on! Wendy, smile and look cute! Carla, help her with that!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy saluted and whipped out his fishing rod. He cast the line into the water.

"Um…Shouldn't I help you pitch the tent?" Wendy offered hesitantly, but to her astonishment, the tent was already standing like a proud temple.

"I'm suddenly terrified… Open, Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!" Lucy summoned the Zodiac Spirit with her golden key.

"What is it this time?" Aquarius asked flatly, arms crossed, azure eyes colder than Gray.

"Sorry. Is this a bad time?" Lucy asked sheepishly. She knew better than anyone how volatile Aquarius' temper was.

"No," Aquarius shook her head, arms still crossed. "I just don't want to be here for a stupid reason. I still haven't forgotten about that fountain job, you know."

"Okay, that's fair. Um, so here's the deal… We're setting up camp here. Natsu's in charge of starting a camp fire and…you're here to make sure the forest doesn't burn down. That seems legit, right?" the blonde mage asked nervously. It wasn't much of a case to bring up for any spirit, let alone one who would wash away an entire naval fleet on impulse.

"…Yeah, that seems like a good reason. So, is he your boyfriend or what?" Aquarius questioned deviously. Lucy made a note to herself to sigh in relief at the news that Aquarius wasn't peeved at being the living emergency bucket at a later point.

"Uh… Kind of, sort of, maybe…" Lucy answered, causing Aquarius to nudge her playfully.

Gray and Natsu were watching Lucy and Aquarius interact. Natsu asked his dark haired rival, "What do you think they're talking about?"

"I have three good guesses. Two of them are you," Gray replied indifferently.

"Me?" Natsu was perplexed.

"Yes, you. Who else would she be talking about?"

"The pizza guy with the big beard. He's like a young Santa Claus!" Natsu gave the rhetorical question his very best answer.

"Oh, yeah. I know who you're talking about. That is a long beard," Gray marveled at the thought of the impressive beard. "I kind of want to see him braid it."

"You're talking about facial hair?" Erza had to ask as she walked by. "Requip!" She reequipped out of her armor and into a blue bikini, and then she jumped in the river.

"What is she…?" Natsu started to ask.

"I have no idea," Gray mumbled, just as clueless as Natsu.

"She's obviously practicing her underwater basket weaving. Duh," Happy stated matter-of-factly as he caught another fish, bringing his count up to nine. His thoughts started to travel elsewhere. _When Carla and I have kids, I know we said we'd name a boy Skippy and a girl Lily, but I'm starting to wonder what would happen if we had two girls. I like the name Joy… Joy is a beautiful name for a little girl. I like fish. Wait a sec!_ "I've got another bite!" the blue cat declared happily and reeled it in.

"How'd you catch so many fish?!" Gray and Natsu couldn't help but ask at the number of fish that the blue Exceed had caught already.

"Shark in the pool," Happy answered peculiarly and returned his focus to the water. He smirked, trying to imagine the perplexed expressions of Natsu and Gray. He seemed to have a bite and reeled it in. "Here's another!"

"Ooh! Let me see!" Carla came over, eager to simply be by his side.

"Here it comes!" he yelled and yanked on the rod. Instead of a fish, out flew an ornate, beautifully woven basket. "What the heck…?"

Erza's head, donning a smile, popped out of the river. She asked eagerly, "So what do you think?"

"I think you secretly went to college and earned a master's degree in underwater basket weaving," Carla replied. Happy stared at the woven vessel with wide eyes.

"You mean that's a thing?!" Natsu yelled. "Oh, thinking about it makes my head hurt!"

"Something as simple as underwater basket weaving makes your head hurt?" Gray scoffed.

"Well, if it's so simple, you try it, Gray. Educate us," Erza challenged him.

"I-I meant as a concept!" Gray tried to verbally defend himself.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked as she and Aquarius came over.

"That basket is so neat!" Wendy marveled (no pun intended), popping up in the middle of everyone.

"I thought you'd be strategizing against Cursed Fang, not weaving baskets," Aquarius scoffed. Lucy could tell, however, that the mermaid spirit was very infatuated with the basket that Erza wove under the river.

Carla decided to take the opportunity to snuggle with Happy, and so she did. She hugged him tightly and placed her head on his shoulder. Happy wrapped an arm around her, but continued to stare at the basket.

"…Let's eat!" Natsu suggested.

"Hey, Natsu-san, if you ate the flames off of Hino's head, what would happen to him?" Wendy asked, bringing up an interesting point.

"Who? Oh, Candle Head! I don't know…" Natsu admitted and started to wonder. "Ah, man, now I'm even hungrier!" He proceeded to set the campfire up and ignited the stacked twigs. Lucy had two fish, each on a stick, ready for cooking. She handed one to the pink haired young man. "Thanks, Luce. I can always count on you." She blushed at his comment, and this time he took notice of it. "You sick? You've been really red lately. I mean, not like Erza's hair, but still…"

"What? No, no, I'm fine!" Lucy insisted. She felt Aquarius nudge her playfully and instantly got her message once more. "Shut up…"


	6. The Allies Meet Again

**Here's chapter six.**

 **Happy: Yay!**

 **I really want to keep this author's note short, so I will. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 6: The Allies Meet Again**

Upon reaching the outskirts of Magnolia, Gray threw off his coat and shirt (which he somehow found on the trip back).

"Gray, you just found those!" Erza scolded.

"What are you doing?!" Lucy asked in shock.

"My rival senses are tingling," Gray said coolly.

"You sound like a comic book hero!" Happy marveled. He reached into his green bag and pulled out a comic book titled 'The Adventures of Gray Fullbuster: Volume 1'. He held it out eagerly to Gray as a little boy would when meeting their favorite superhero. "Can I have your autograph?"

"Sure, kid," Gray said with a smile. He reached into his pants' pocket (yes, he still has those) and extracted a pen from it. He scribbled his name onto the comic book as they others watched in utter confusion.

"Thank you!" Happy thanked him giddily.

"Why have you never gotten his autograph before?" Carla questioned him, finding the whole situation to be very odd. She fell for a silly tomcat, and she knew it, but she would have never seen this coming.

"Why does Gray have his own comic book to begin with?!" Natsu demanded, spewing flames of rage as he ranted. Pouting like a spoiled child, he started mumbling to himself. "I want my own comic book…"

"Juvia commissioned Reedus to whip it up," Gray explained the comic book's existence in one simple sentence. The directness of the statement seemed to impress Erza, as she started applauding with a respectful gleam in her eyes.

"If it's that simple," Natsu got up and began to say, "then I need to get back to town!" He started running, shouting, "Reedus! REEDUUUUUUS…" And his voice trailed off as he ran into the distance.

"Lucy-san, our whole guild is crazy…!" Wendy panicked as she hugged Lucy's arm, trembling with a frightened look in her eyes.

"That's old news, Wendy," Lucy sighed and looked down at her. When she looked back up, she saw Erza in a black spandex suit and mask. "Erza…?"

"Fairy Woman shall be immortalized!" Erza declared in an official-sounding voice as she ran off into town in Natsu's wake.

"We'd better go. I have a feeling I'm going to get into another fight. That's two fights in two days," Gray decided and walked onward.

"That's a low for you, isn't it?" Carla asked as the rest of the group followed him.

When Natsu burst into the guild, he was surprised to have his face pressed against that of Ichiya, and the first thing he said to the Blue Pegasus wizard was, "You're not Reedus."

"Men! Of course I'm not. I'm the master of parfum!" Ichiya claimed suavely, but was utterly shocked to see that Natsu had lost interest and began to wander around.

Accompanying Ichiya were Nichiya the Exceed, Eve Tearm, Ren Akatsuki, and Hibiki Lates. Natsu decided to ask the golden question, "What are you guys doing here?"

"I thought even you'd figure that out," Ren said with a scowl. "Think about it. With Cursed Fang running around, can we really afford to let any one guild handle this alone?"

"So you're not joining Fairy Tail?" Natsu blinked innocently.

"No…"

"Though, the beautiful women here make it tempting," Hibiki said suavely.

"Classic Blue Pegasus wizards. Natsu, where is the rest of your team?" a deep, upfront voice asked Natsu from behind. The pinked haired fire wizard turned around to see Lamia Scale's Lyon, Jura, Sherry, Chelia, Toby, and Yuka.

"What the—?! Why are you here? Is this an intervention?" Natsu asked nervously, looking around.

"This is _not_ an intervention. Get your head in the game, Natsu," Master Makarov ordered as he trotted over. Using one of his staves, he bopped Natsu in the head. "Where is the rest of your team?"

"Fairy Woman has arrived!" Erza burst in and announced. The next thing she knew, Ichiya was all over her, and she swatted him like a fly. "Ichiya, what is the meaning of this intrusion?"

"Intrusion? Why, my dear Erza, you misunderstand. We were invited here by your master," Ichiya informed her, recovering quickly.

Erza scanned the room and noticed the other Blue Pegasus wizards and the wizards from Lamia Scale. "…Ohh! I get it. This is an Allied Guilds meeting."

"Allied who what?" Natsu spoke up, dazed from being bopped.

"Don't you remember how a few guilds, including ours, had formed a big team to take down the Oración Seis?" Erza asked, hoping to jog his memory.

"Oh, yeah! But—counting the stick—weren't there always seven of them?" Natsu recalled. Erza was about to argue, but stopped to think about it. Conceding, she nodded.

"Lyon!" Gray's voice boomed from the doorway. "Why don't you and I see which of us carries on Master Ur's legacy better?"

"Fine by me," Lyon accepted the challenge and threw his shirt off, proudly revealing his Lamia Scale guild mark.

"Lyon, this isn't—" Yuka tried to reason with his icy companion.

"Gray, cease this!" Erza ordered.

"The winner earns the hand of fair Juvia," Lyon waged.

"You're a little psycho," Gray scoffed and took a stance. Lyon did the same.

"If you're real men, you'll take it outside!" Elfman bellowed and attempted to get between them.

"STAY OUT OF IT!" the two ice wizards yelled at him and worked together to flip him over a table.

"My guild hall!" Makarov gasped and fainted.

Happy and Carla came in, paw-in-paw. Shortly after them were Lucy and Wendy. Wendy delightedly cried out, "Chelia!"

"Hi, Wendy!" the magenta haired Sky God Slayer waved excitedly.

"Stop this, you hooligans! Quit embarrassing yourselves or I'll spin you into next week!" the frightening, elderly, feminine (if that's the right word) voice erupted as its owner—Lamia Scale's Master Obaa Babasama—emerged from between Jura and Toby. Gray and Lyon stood frozen where they were—quite literally. "Makarov, you need to be stricter with your brats!"

"You're starting to sound like Porlyusica," Makarov muttered bitterly. "I could say the same to you."

"Master Bob isn't here, is he? He gives me the skeeves," Natsu shivered.

"Unfortunately, the master couldn't make it. He said he had some personal affairs to attend to," Hibiki informed him, relieving the Fire Dragon Slayer. He snapped his fingers. A screen of magic energy appeared in mid-air. "Now onto business. Our three guilds have been working to triangulate the headquarters of the dark guild known as Cursed Fang. This dark guild, unlike most, is completely separate from the Balam Alliance." A map of Fiore appeared on the screen. "We've looked, but we have nothing so far. I'd expect them to be in a secluded area somewhere based on job requests involving the trouble they cause."

"We fought a hoard of them a while back. Erza calls it 'Operation: Bikini Reaper'," Gray spoke up.

"A battle is just as psychological as it is physical," Erza said proudly with a glint in her eyes.

"Anyway," Gray spoke up, "We fought them in a pretty remote area. It was a clearing in a forest. They seemed to come out of the woodwork. We fought them by the masses. Erza even fought their master, but he halved his magic power to gain muscle mass. He came at us full force in his notably scrawnier true form."

"He did the same thing with Jura! That sneaky scoundrel!" Toby spoke up, and quite loudly at that.

"Cat love!" Chelia exclaimed cutely as she squatted down to closely observe Happy and Carla holding paws. "Oh, wow, they are so cute!"

"I know, right!" Wendy agreed cheerfully. Carla wondered about the power of the two girls' friendship. When they were together, the whole world seemed to be butterflies and rainbows and they couldn't get enough of each other. It was astounding.

"Men! Meow! He did the same thing with my partner. What a wicked tease!" Nichiya stated, sparkles floating around him.

"It seems to be the same pattern whenever they want to test a guild. They send an official looking fake job to a guild stating that a dark guild is causing trouble in the woods close by. Then, they fight in hoards and their master fights at roughly 50% capacity—if that—and they battle to weed out the contents of the guild's hearts," Hibiki continued.

"Even with Fairy Tail's power of sheer will, we were deemed unfit to live in their so-called 'new world'," Erza stated, crossing her arms.

"Fake jobs…?" Lucy's eyes widened as she echoed. She started to wonder where she would have been if she hadn't gone out to the battle on that day. She could have actually helped someone who needed it. For all she knew, she could have saved a life.

As if hearing her thoughts, Natsu clenched a fist and growled, "They waste our time fighting us when they're not even putting their hearts into it while someone somewhere actually needs a wizard's help?! That's selfish! It's disgusting!" A powerful heat began to emit from Natsu's body.

"I fought one of their wizards, the Jester, back in Oshibana. He was annoying. He wasn't all that tough either," Gray jumped back into the conversation. All eyes shifted to him. "But you know what he was? He was dangerous. He was throwing bombs, scythes, and swords all over the place. He was throwing _himself_ all over the place."

"Uh…Gray? You're still frozen," Lucy pointed out. It was then and only then that Gray and Lyon remembered that they had been frozen in place.

"You can thaw yourself out, right?" Erza asked.

"…At least I still have my pants," Gray muttered, disregarding Erza's question.

"The audacity those Cursed Fang cretins peeves me so much," Carla growled as anger flared up in her eyes. She thought of how warped Crimson had seemed after being raised by them. He didn't know how to act. When they first met, he acted creepily toward her and asked her to marry him.

As if detecting her anger and concern, Happy pulled her into a tight hug and whispered into her ear, "He's on a better path now. He has a mama and a big brother and a new step-papa."

"Kah! I can't believe Old Sal finally tied the knot!" Happy's father, Lucky, claimed with a hint of nostalgia in his loud voice.

"You knew Salberay, Papa?" Happy asked the older Exceed.

"Kah! Of course! He's an old poker buddy from our wild and young days in Extalia. Come to think of it, he had a crush on a pretty red Exceed just like Ruby, but she was swept off her paws by a guy named Sard-something," Lucky recalled.

"Sardonyx, dear," Lucky's wife and Happy's mother, Marl, finished her husband's sentence. "Poor Ruby. She told me he was killed by bandits."

"That's so sad…" Happy sniffled and held Carla close. The first time he heard that story was from Ruby herself, and he bawled like a kitten. Carla tried not to picture herself in Ruby's fur in that situation.

"Gray-sama! Juvia is so sorry she wasn't there to cheer you on!" Juvia hugged Gray tightly, which induced a look of utter defeat on Lyon's face.

"Is no one taking this seriously?" Hibiki asked, clearly irritated. He looked off to his right to see Sherry and Ren kissing in a corner.

"In all, we're looking for their hideout and they're all dangerous in some way, shape, or form," Natsu concluded. "Can I eat now?"

"We have the best fish entrees here!" Happy, suddenly cheerful, boasted proudly.

"I like fish," Eve admitted. Happy held up a paw, as if saying 'High-five, brother'. They high-fived.

"Fish is good," Jura said and nodded in approval.

"I doubt they would send all of their wizards away from their guild. That would explain why we only saw the Jester in Oshibana," Erza theorized.

"That's right. That was the first time we've seen a Cursed Fang wizard alone!" Lucy realized. "But…why would they send him out?"

"My best guess would be to kill any wizard they had already deemed unworthy of living in their new world," Lyon aired his suspicions. "And since there was only one of him, he probably used a divide-and-conquer tactic. Am I wrong?"

"No," Gray replied. "But it really backfired on him."

"So I see. After all, you're still breathing. No student of Ur's will go down too easily. Not even you."

"If he hadn't spent so much time on rhyming and banter, he _might_ have killed me. Maybe."

"Juvia would not tolerate that!" Juvia exclaimed defensively and hugged Gray even tighter.

"The Jester was taken into custody. If we can get to him, we might be able to get some answers," Jura suggested.

"A visitation interrogation!" Happy exclaimed excitedly.

"No more rhyming," Gray groaned.


	7. A Visitation Interrogation

**Here's chapter seven, all. I hope you all enjoy it.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 7: A Visitation Interrogation**

After some begging, the Allied Guilds managed to schedule a visit with the Jester. Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus sent their best teams, but representing Lamia Scale was Master Obaa herself, who left Jura in her place at the guild. Happy had a protective arm wrapped around Carla, hoping to protect her should the need arise. As the group of wizards trotted through the jail, they saw all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly people there, and those mean, nasty, ugly people were giving them the crook eye, the stink eye, the evil eye, the hairy eye, the blind eye, the dirty eye, the flirty eye, and all kinds of other eyes.

"Okay, is anyone else uncomfortable by the way they're staring at us?" Lucy asked nervously as she looked around at all the criminals, convicts, and other such people.

"NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST," the Blue Pegasus team answered unanimously and coolly.

"So, uh—Men!—Princess, how is your mother holding up?" Nichiya asked Carla, trying to make small talk with her.

"My mother? She's fine. I'm so pleased at how happy she and Lily are together!" Carla answered casually as Nichiya hid how her answer broke his heart. "And Myo is so cute! I have to say that even though he is a little annoying, I do like having a baby brother."

"Oh, yes," Nichiya brokenly recalled, "I forgot his child had been conceived within her… That's nice…"

"Captain Nichiya, are you alright?" Carla asked, looking up at him in concern.

"Ahem! Quite fine, thank you," Nichiya suddenly straightened up and tried to be professional.

"I say 'liar'," Happy sang softly and smirked.

"Holy pants! Look at that guy! He's a mummy!" Natsu exclaimed and pointed behind a cell to a man in a strait jacket and a mask.

"Natsu, don't be rude," Erza instructed as she dragged him along. "It's unbecoming."

"I gave a good spin to at least forty-one of the crooks in here," Obaa informed them. "Just a random fact. I've been in the business a long time."

"Really?" Erza asked, utterly fascinated. "Master Obaa, you are a woman among women."

"I even invented a dance called 'The Spin'," Obaa boasted with a hearty laugh.

Unimpressed, Gray mused, "Doubt it." He kept walking along, trying to sense whatever magic energy he could detect from the Jester. The sensation he got from when they fought was like several small explosions bouncing annoyingly all over the place. Oh, wait. That was exactly what happened. But the vibe he got from the Jester was murderous intent that seemed self-consciously justified.

"What crawled up your pants? Hey! You're still wearing pants!" Natsu noticed and slapped Gray on the back.

"Will you shut up? I'm trying to focus," Gray requested (or rather demanded) and began to focus on the magic in the cells again. Even if the imprisoned wizards couldn't use magic, they still had the residual essence of their magic power lingering about them and their prison. It was like how a person's bedroom will start to smell like them.

"You sense him?" Erza asked him softly.

Suddenly, Gray stopped short, causing Eve to bump into him, and nodded. "Yep. About thirty meters and on the right."

"I knew it," Erza said, satisfied with the confirmation.

"It's the stench of unadulterated evil. And helium," Obaa growled. "I'm gonna spin him into next Wednesday!"

"Why Wednesday?" Hibiki couldn't help but ask, curious as to why she was specific.

"People show their true colors on Wednesdays. Either they're delighted the week is halfway through or they're moaning and groaning about it!" Obaa explained, having a very valid point. "They're either optimists or pessimists. Which are you, Pretty Boy Number Two?"

"Why am I Number Two?" Hibiki continued his questions, getting more and more perplexed by the old woman.

"Well, you are not as reliable as Ichiya, but you seem most capable of being a leader if it comes down to you and those other two. Now stop pestering me or I'll spin you!"

"Heh-heh-heh! So the Allies have realigned, eh?" the Jester snickered in his cell. "It's all I can do to keep from chuckling as I eye you little ducklings! Huh? Sweet fanny, a monster granny!" Of course, by 'monster granny', he meant Obaa. That irritating rhyming and that comment earned him a good spin from said formidable elderly woman.

"I have some questions I want you to answer," Erza told the Jester. "Okay, here we go. What inspired you to join Cursed Fang in the first place?"

"I honestly hated the state of the world! It was so fouled, I nearly hurled!" the convict answered as he was spun.

"He looks like he's going to hurl now," Lucy commented. "Like Natsu on a train."

"Hey!" Natsu seemed offended. Immediately he conceded, "Yeah, that's true."

"It's one of my favorite quirks about you," the blonde comforted him with a hug.

"So you two are a thing now, right?" Gray asked.

"So say Aquarius, Erza, and Happy's favorite idols. Therefore, it is absolute," Natsu informed him.

"You like idols?" Carla looked into Happy's eyes and asked playfully. She nudged him a bit with her lips in a playfully mischievous smile.

"W-well, there is this one group…" Happy answered awkwardly with a blush, trailing off.

"You hated the world?" Erza continued to press questions, tuning out her comrades.

"Yes, yes, the power struggle is too much. It made me feel like a broken crutch," the Jester groaned, now nauseous. Obaa then decided to stop spinning him so he could be further questioned.

"I think he's just saying words for the sake of rhyming," Wendy commented in a small voice.

"So in order to solve that struggle, your master intends to put everything under his absolute rule," Erza guessed. The giggles being let out by the Jester told her that she was right.

"Yes, yes! Then the world can de-stress!" the Jester rhymed excitedly.

"The world will be oppressed! This is mass homicide! This is genocide! All for the sake of a sick dream in which a human takes the role of a god, deciding who is to live and who is to die?! You want that?!" Erza demanded, furious at the answer she was given.

"Master Tiran can do many, many things! He's even mastered forbidden spells that no one ever knew existed!" the Jester informed them and laughed maniacally.

"…Like that Cosmic Avatar?" Carla dared to ask, thinking back to the time when Happy first invoked the Shining Aera and took on Tiran, who was enveloped in an avatar of cosmic energy.

"You're a smart little kitty cat. You know, I like that," the Jester said in genuine—albeit insane—admiration.

"What is wrong with him?" Eve muttered.

"He's stark raving mad. I wonder if he was ever sane to begin with," Ichiya explained somberly. "Such a waste of entertaining talent."

"Entertaining? He tried to murder me!" Gray yelled defensively, only to get a face full of Ichiya. "Back away, please."

Natsu aggressively grabbed the Jester by the collar, shocking everyone. The pink haired Dragon Slayer growled, "So you're using this 'new world' crap as an excuse to justify murder?! Listen here, these are living, breathing people that you and your guild are killing and terrorizing! They're not your puppets! They're not your toys!"

"Even toys should be treated with respect!" Happy chimed in, embracing his inner kitten. He took a chocolate bar out of his bag and peeled the wrapper off of it. He angrily bit into the chocolate bar for dramatic effect. There was that and he was also hungry. "I eat more than fish! I had noodles with Plue once. I'm starting to like tea, too. And chocolate is so good!"

"If you think I'm going to let you get away with this, you're dead wrong!" Natsu roared and threw the Jester into the floor of his cell, knocking him unconscious. He sighed in satisfaction, only to face a hoard of angry comrades (and Wendy, who was more terrified than angry). "What?"

"WE NEEDED TO GET INFO OUT OF HIM, YOU FIRE-BREATHING IDIOT!" they all yelled at him (except for Wendy, who was checking to see if the Jester had a concussion).

"I'm sorry!" Natsu panicked, back against the cell bars.

"We'll figure something out. Or ask him if he wakes up," Erza decided.


	8. Natsu VS Hino

**I was going to save this chapter for a little later, but then I figured "why not?"**

 **Here's another fight chapter. I hope I did alright.**

 **Happy: Aye, sir!**

 **Crimson: (hugging Garnet) Say hi to the readers, Big Bro!**

 **Garnet: Hi...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 8: Natsu VS Hino**

After Natsu had inadvertently knocked the Allies' only informant out of commission, none other than Loke appeared in yellow light and, still having the heart of a Blue Pegasus member (due to his previous key holder's affiliation), swept Lucy off her feet. His greeting: "Boy, Lucy, do I have some news for you!"

"Hey, that's mine, ya jerk!" Natsu growled protectively.

"I know all about that. So I guess what Aquarius said is true, huh? Natsu Dragneel, you are one lucky man," Loke said, his tone both congratulatory and disheartened.

"Greetings, Loke. Your parfum is much stronger than I have ever smelled it to be," Ichiya greeted, getting in Loke's face.

"Thanks, Ichiya," Loke awkwardly thanked the short man. "I think. Yeah, I've grown a lot stronger thanks to Lucy. Anyway, I have news on Cursed Fang's hideout. Apparently the reason why it's so hard to find is because it's underground. The entrance is a cave in the woods where you first encountered them."

"How do you know that?" Lucy asked, somewhat perturbed and dreading that her Celestial Spirits might have been stalking her.

"I always know where you are, babe. It's the power of our bond," Loke answered. "That and Gray told me all about your wedding dress."

"Thanks a lot, Gray!" Lucy said begrudgingly. Gray backed away in fear of Lucy's wrath. In spite of the controversially misconceived belief that Lucy was only good for tactical use and aesthetic appeal, she was quite formidable, most especially when enraged or motivated.

"I'm surprised no one has ever found it outside of Cursed Fang's own members. Tiran's magic power is immense," Wendy commented quietly, recalling the fact that Tiran was able to create a Jupiter blast with his power alone.

"He's probably as skilled as he is powerful, child. Hiding his strength should be no trouble for him," Carla lectured.

"You have a point," Wendy conceded.

"Do you know the exact location?" Erza was upfront about questioning the Zodiac Spirit.

"I'm not that good. Sorry," Loke apologized with a humiliated shrug. He wanted to be of more use to them. His gaze, masked by a gleam on his sunglasses, shifted to Hibiki as he wondered if the archive wizard still held a grudge against him over what happened to Karen. To his surprise, he received a faint smile.

"You're useless! Spin, fool!" Obaa spat and spun her finger around and around. Round and round Loke went. Where he'll stop, no one knows.

"Actually, he was very useful. We know what to look for now, as well as where to look," Erza declared with determination flaring in her eyes and confidence radiating from her posture.

"Oh, why didn't I think of this sooner?" Carla asked rhetorically and slapped herself. "Crimson used to be a member of Cursed Fang! He must know where the entrance to the hideout is!"

"But he and his brother are on his mama and step-papa's honeymoon," Happy pointed out.

"I would expect them to return any day now!" Carla said, praying that she was right. Suddenly, she noticed that something was off. "Did Natsu slip away from us?"

Everyone looked around, fully taking into notice that the Fire Dragon Slayer was no longer among them. What they hadn't realized was that Natsu smelled a very familiar and ominously appetizing smell that was the head of Hino, one of Cursed Fang's notable top three wizards (no longer four since Seri left).

Hino had a mission. It was, among many things, a priority that may or may not have been self-appointed. Whether or not he gave himself this assignment was an unimportant mystery. What was important, for the sake of the new world and of Cursed Fang's defense, was the assignment itself: kill Crimson.

Hino spotted three red Exceeds and one orange Exceed in the distance. The orange Exceed was Salberay, recognizable by his cowboy getup. Next to him was his new wife, Ruby, who had been previously widowed. Her attire was similar to that of Happy's mother—Marl—in the sense that her clothes were modest of her body and she wore a hood. Instead of a green hood like Marl, however, Ruby's was pink. Her stomach was swollen on account of a recent pregnancy. There was a male red Exceed who was slightly shorter than Ruby. This was Ruby's firstborn twelve-year-old son, Garnet. The smallest of the Exceeds was six-year-old Crimson, Garnet's younger brother and Ruby's second born child.

"Mommy, if the kitten's a girl, can we name her Scarlet?" Crimson asked, clinging to Ruby's arm. Due to the way he was so affectionate, no one would have ever guessed that he was once a member of Cursed Fang, born and raised.

"If she's red, honey," Ruby promised him with a kind, gentle smile.

"After that hot S-Class wizard, Miss Erza?" Garnet asked curiously.

"I hadn't thought of that," Crimson admitted and held a finger to his lips cutely. Garnet had to admit that he didn't think Crimson had a chance of making it as a civilized cat in the world, but he was heads and tails over how he used to be. Suddenly, Garnet felt his little brother cling to him. Said little brother asked, "Do you wanna play something when we get home, Gar?"

"No," Garnet moaned exasperatedly.

"Why not?"

"I'll be tired by then."

"How do you know that?"

"Big Bros know everything."

"Y'all sure you don't want me to carry ya, Ru?" Salberay asked his new wife, concerned about her and the baby.

"I'm fine, Sal," Ruby insisted. The day she birthed Crimson's egg, she was too weak to walk and felt that she had slowed down her first husband, Sardonyx, in their effort to escape a band of bandits. Sardonyx was killed that day, and Ruby had to will herself to crawl away and leave the egg behind in the shrubs in hopes of protecting it should she have been killed. The past was in the past and she believed in letting things go, which only motivated her more to step forward with all her might. Granted, she still had this egg inside of her and wasn't due for a while.

"I like having a big brother," Crimson declared as he held onto Garnet. "And a mommy and a stepdad, too!"

Hino's disheartened face was masked by the thin veil of flames of his head. Casting his feelings of betrayal aside, he got his game face on and was ready to make the kill. He thought it would have been kind of him to kill the whole family so none of them would have to mourn for each other. Standing high up on a cliff, he readied himself. "Phoenix Style: Soaring Burst!" The fire mage created a bird composed of flame and sent it at the Exceed family, but it never reached its prey. Instead, it was swallowed whole by Natsu Dragneel, who leapt out of the trees at him. "It's you! Salamander!"

"Long time, no see, Candle Head," Natsu greeted with a confident smirk. "You miss me?"

"Actually, I kind of did. I've got to kick your butt at some point, right? This is payback for what happened in Magnolia," Hino smirked right back. "Phoenix Style: Burning Wave!" He sent a wave of fire at the pink haired Dragon Slayer, who simply ate the flames again. The spell was merely a diversion for a well-placed punch to the face. "You think I'd simply throw my fire around like an idiot?"

"I don't understand you Cursed Fang guys," Natsu said, his voice muffled by Hino's fist. The Dragon Slayer grabbed Hino's wrist and flipped him onto a boulder. "I thought Crimson was your friend. You're trying to kill him!"

"I take it you've never been stabbed in the back," Hino spat an ember and presumed.

"I've been stabbed other places," Natsu answered innocently. "Why are you trying to kill him? Huh?!"

"He knows the location of Cursed Fang's base. A traitor like him shouldn't be allowed to live. We'd kill Seri, too, if the island she was on wasn't so remote. Personally, I'm hoping she's too far away to be of use to you guys," Hino answered somberly before kicking Natsu in the gut. "Now we'll see who the better fire wizard really is. Phoenix Style: Rising Glory!" Hino punched the ground and heat surged through the ground toward his Fairy Tail opponent.

A pillar of flames erupted from beneath Natsu's feet. As predicted, Natsu ate the flames and then proceeded to attack the dark guild wizard. "Fire Dragon Iron F—!" He was about to punch Hino with a fist of flames, but ended up punching himself instead. "What the fudge nugget?"

"I'm pyrokinetic. I guess since fire doesn't have any direct effect on either of us, we're down to a battle of flame-enforced brawn. Of which," Hino said and rose to his feet, "I'll be the victor." He was confident in himself because he had a more muscular build and greater overall body mass than Natsu. He lunged forth at the pink haired fire wizard and started throwing an explosive force of punches.

At first, Natsu was able to dodge a few jabs, but once he took a blow, he lost momentum and was continuously slugged. Hino pulled his right arm back to ready a mighty blow, and Natsu took that pause to his advantage and tackled the larger man in the midsection, sending him back about a foot.

Hino then elbowed Natsu in the head while he was in range and grinned wildly, believing he had a chance to kill Natsu. The blow would have killed any normal person, but Natsu was—as he had proved time and time again—not an ordinary person. As soon as Natsu was down on his face, he was back up again and ready for more action. Blood ran down his face, but he didn't seem to care.

"What are you…? You absorbed both Bane's attacks and my own at the same time back in Magnolia… The last blow should have crushed your skull…! You're not human! There's no way you could be!" Hino started to panic, which was rare for him.

"What? This? Just a scrape," the pink haired teen boasted dizzily.

"Well, that clearly did something…" Hino remarked flatly.

"Hey, Candle Head, what does your head taste like?" Natsu asked and deliriously attempted to lick Hino's face.

"Geez, what are you?! A dog?!" Hino quickly grew impatient and slapped Natsu.

Regaining his senses, Natsu replied, "No. I'm a Dragon Slayer! And I'm probably a nominee for president of something somewhere."

"You're an idiot," Hino commented. "Seriously, you don't even know how to die."

"Oh, it's not that. I just have too much to live for," Natsu replied and slugged Hino. "After all, I've got all of my friends at Fairy Tail who can count on me and who I can count on in return. They showed me where true strength comes from! The heart!" It was Natsu's turn to deal the blows, and he was very opportunistic about it. He proceeded to divulge his motivation as he punched Hino's face. "Fairy Tail's given me a home! It's given me a family! The people there look out for each other! They don't try to kill one of their own just because they leave! We bid our farewells with sad hearts and happy smiles! It's because of everyone at Fairy Tail that I keep going! I'll always believe in it, and as long as someone believes in Fairy Tail, it will never die!"

Conveniently, Happy and Lucy were above them, and they heard every word. Lucy cried tears of happiness, finding Natsu's words to be one of the most moving things she'd ever heard. Best of all, they were just what she thought he would say simply because that's who Natsu was. "Oh, Natsu…"

"Yeah! You get him, Natsu!" Happy cheered.

"You son of a—err! In all my four hundred years, I've never encountered anyone quite like you," Hino grunted, trying to power through the intense soreness running through his body, mainly his neck and face.

Natsu stopped his onslaught with his fist mere inches away from Hino's face. "Did you say four hundred years?"

"The time of the dragons. And of Zeref," Hino replied, nodding to add to the confirmation. "I used to look at Zeref and think 'that guy's gonna change the world'. I still think about him from time to time. Him and—wait…" Hino studied Natsu's face carefully. "No way… You're—"

"TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE DRAGONS!" Natsu roared and slammed Hino into the ground as he had done with the Jester. He was much more forceful this time, nearly capsizing the entire plateau in the process. Large rocky chunks and dust flew everywhere. Happy and Lucy, still high above, covered their eyes and waited for the dust to settle. It was a good two minutes before it finally did, and what the human teen and young cat saw was Natsu standing over Hino's barely conscious body in a giant crater.

"You've earned my respect…" Hino coughed. "Igneel the fire dragon king did well in raising you, you ignorant little hellhound… That's it… We should really…do this again sometime…" He sputtered and passed out, his head flame going out to reveal a bone white head.

"Ah! No! Wake up! You were going to tell me more about the dragons! And how you got to live so long! And let me taste your head flames! Darn it all!" Natsu tried slapping Hino back into consciousness.

"He went overboard again," Happy commented. "Do you think Carla likes ghost stories, Lucy? Lucy?" Lucy wasn't listening to the blue Exceed. She was thankful that the targeted Exceed family was safely out of range and seemingly unaware of the fight, but she was more shocked by Natsu's raw power (both physically and magically) than anything.

"Happy!" Carla, carrying Wendy, flew over to Happy and kissed his cheek. "Did you find Natsu?"

"Down there," Happy answered and tried to get closer to the white female.

"Oh, there he—oh, my!" Carla gasped at the aftermath of the brawl.

"Natsu-san did all of that? Oh, no! He's bleeding!" Wendy cried out and wiggled out of Carla's arms. She landed on her feet and hopped over to Natsu, casting her healing magic on him. She immediately started sweating at the heat being emitted from his body.

Happy dropped Lucy and then hugged Carla tightly as the two cats started to descend together. Lucy landed on her feet and ran over to Natsu in spite of the heat. Carla panted a bit and asked Happy, "Why is it so hot out here?"

"It is summertime and Natsu got all fired up," Happy answered and wiped his forehead with her tie.

"Hey! That's not a sweat rag!" Carla exclaimed and snatched her tie away from him. "You're lucky you're cute. Come here." She grabbed his face and kissed his nose, causing him to swoon.

While the two Exceeds cuddled mid-descent, Lucy held Natsu's hands as Wendy treated him. The blonde told the Dragon Slayer, "I thought you were amazing out there."

"Thanks, Lucy," Natsu thanked her and laughed a bit. "I beat the snot out of Candle Head."

"More than just snot," Wendy peered down at Hino as she continued to treat Natsu.


	9. Pantherlily's Fashion Statement

**Chapter 9: Pantherlily's Fashion Statement**

After Wendy closed up Natsu's head wound, the Allies went back to their respective guilds in their respective towns respectively. The Fire Dragon Slayer seemed, in two words, momentarily satisfied. Stretching while walking, his head bandaged, he had a voice that was refreshed and lax, reflective of him. "That Candle Head puts up a good fight. I just wish he talked more about dragons."

"I find his longevity to be even more intriguing. After all, there are so many unanswered questions around that alone," Erza responded to him, getting a conversation going. "Lucy, Happy, you saw the fight. What did you think?"

"Natsu kicks more butt than all of Cursed Fang put together!" Happy boasted, having a zeal for cheering Natsu on. His left paw was locked with Carla's right paw, and he gently rubbed his thumb on it. Carla blushed and smiled as the warm and fuzzy feelings originating from the area that Happy's thumb rubbed washed over her entire body.

"I'm just glad he's okay. I was so worried when he took that blow to the head," Lucy said, sighing in relief even though it was so long after the fight. That wasn't all that was on her mind, though. She couldn't seem to shake the fact that for an instant, a brief instant, Hino seemed to recognize Natsu from the distant past. How could that be? Natsu was, aside from his raw draconic power and incredible strength and talent, an average teenage wizard. There was no way he could have existed four hundred years ago, right? Right? She knew he lacked eternal youth because she had seen pictures of many of her comrades, including Natsu, when they were younger. The others had vouched for growing up with him.

"Lucy-san, is something wrong?" Wendy poked Lucy and asked, releasing the blonde from her trance.

"Hm?" Lucy, seemingly among the living again, looked into Wendy's innocent eyes and smiled. "I'm fine, Wendy. Just thinking." She decided to just let go of her puzzled train of thought because she knew she wouldn't get anywhere with it with what little information she had. _I'm probably just over thinking it._

"I can't wait to tell Mama and Papa and Myo all about the visit!" Happy said excitedly. Myo was Carla's baby half-brother. The entire guild was infatuated with him, but he seemed to find Happy to be his favorite.

Naturally, this made Carla smile. It took a lot for her to be open about her feelings, but she deeply cared for Happy. She's confessed her feelings to him before, but that was an instant. Myo seemed to perpetually reflect her feelings for Happy, and she hoped that he wouldn't ever forget how she felt and continued to feel. "I'm glad you like him so much. He's always delighted to spend time with you. Please, though, try not to scare the impressionable kitten."

"Impressionable?" Happy echoed, marveling at Carla's extensive and formal vocabulary.

"Do you know what love is?" an unknown voice whispered in Happy's ear, causing him to stop. "Can someone as young as you appreciate the value of something so complex?"

"…Its complexity is proof that it's real," Happy answered. Everyone else stopped and looked around, trying to figure out to whom he was speaking. "To me, love is when you care about a person and appreciate them for who they are. Love is when you hold dear the value that someone has brought to your life. I can't imagine my life without Carla."

"Oh, Happy," Carla swooned with tears in her eyes. Everyone else was perplexed.

"…I like that answer, ribbit!" the voice responded, now known to everyone. It was a croak-like voice. Suddenly, a tiny green frog jumped onto Happy's head. "Hiya! I'm Gero the talking frog. Ribbit! Frosch-kun from Sabertooth has told me a lot about you, ribbit!"

"A TALKING FROG?!" everyone cried out.

"Just when I thought I'd seen it all…" Lucy almost fainted.

"I thought I had seen it all when Cana came pounding on my door at two in the morning, asking if she could buy booze from me," Gray murmured.

"Um, Mr. Frog, why did you ask me if I knew what love was?" Happy asked curiously as he looked up at the tiny green frog on his head.

"Rumor has it that a two kittens in the Magnolia area claim to have fallen in love with each other," Gero answered. "That and I have a bad habit of trying to test people. It's a hobby, ribbit."

"Well, I would hardly consider myself a kitten," Carla claimed defensively with crossed arms and a head held high.

"Hm. Proud little thing," Gero commented.

"You're one to talk about size," Happy crossed his arms and countered.

"He's so cute! Like a little jellyfish!" Wendy mused with a slight giggle. Lucy and Erza looked at each other and didn't speak a word. Rather, they appeared to carry out a conversation in silence.

"You know Frosch?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Frosch-kun knows half the frogs in the country, though Rogue won't let him keep any pets," Gero replied. "Ribbit. Now don't you get any ideas, ribbit. I'm a wandering frog, ribbit. I just wanted to check out this cat's virtues, ribbit."

"I think squirrels make nice pets," Happy said out of the blue.

"Squirrels are adorable," Erza commented in agreement.

"You're a wise little guy, ribbit. Frosch-kun has some great pals," Gero ribbited in relief and was about to disappear. "Sayonara, Fairy Tail cuties, ribbit." With that, the green frog disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"…Well, while that encountered was a tad out of place, I did appreciate hearing what Happy's interpretation of love was. I can't imagine my life without you, either, Happy," Carla confessed and hugged Happy, rubbing her nose against his. "Thank you for being you, Happy."

"Don't mention it. Thank you for being you," Happy thanked her for her presence in response.

"What cuties!" Lucy cooed, trying to be quiet. She was happy for Happy. She knew from day one that he was wild about her. Plus, everyone knew that Carla was not-so-secretly infatuated with Happy. They were cute together and the chemistry of their love couldn't have been more perfect. It made Lucy wonder about herself. Moreover, it made her wonder about herself and Natsu. She glanced over at the Fire Dragon Slayer, who was tugging at the bandages around his head. "Natsu, don't do that."

"But I don't want them," Natsu whined. "Gray, fight me."

"No," Gray refused.

"Why n—?!" Natsu started to demand, but was encased in a block of ice in an instant.

"That's why," Gray replied and stuck his hands in his pockets as the block of ice melted rapidly around Natsu.

"That wasn't funny!" Natsu growled as soon as he was thawed out. He punched Gray in the face. Gray responded by punching Natsu in the gut. A psychotic cycle of punches began and Erza soon had to step in and "detain" them both. In other words, she knocked them both out and dragged them the rest of the way back to the guild.

Team Natsu received a hearty welcome upon return. Makarov was eager. The little old man was practically bouncing as he asked, "How'd the interrogation go?"

"We have an idea. With the red Exceed family returning, we've decided we're going to turn to Crimson as our guide," Erza informed the guild master of their decision.

"That's simply brilliant! You've done it again, Erza!" Makarov congratulated Erza on the team's progress.

"It was my idea," Carla grumbled softly. She glanced over at Pantherlily, her stepfather, and had to glance again because she could not believe her eyes once she saw him.

He was proudly donning a yellow baby carrier across his chest with Myo sitting snugly inside. Feeling mighty, he declared, "I'm Super Daddy!"

"You look darling, Lily!" Shagotte told her second husband eagerly and hugged him as he posed.

"Aye!" Myo agreed, thrilled to be in the bag.

"Hello, everyone," Carla greeted as she trotted to her family. She crouched down a bit and greeted Myo with a huge grin on her face. "How's my baby brother today?"

"Good!" Myo answered cheerfully.

"Myo!" Happy called out and flew over. "I've got a present for you!" Reaching into his green bag, he gripped and pulled out a stuffed fish toy.

"Oh, wow!" Shagotte exclaimed, trying to get Myo excited. "That's so nice of you, Happy! What do you say when someone gives you something, Myo?"

"Thank you!" Myo thanked, eagerly grabbing the fish.

"Wow! He's speaking full sentences and he's not even a year old!" Lucy was amazed at Myo's educational process.

"Exceeds are very quick learners at a young age," Pantherlily informed her.

"It makes sense. Carla was speaking full sentences almost right out of the egg," Wendy recalled.

"So where are Crimson and the rest of the family?" Erza asked Makarov, hoping to continue her progress.

"Unfortunately, they haven't been seen back in town yet," Makarov informed her.

"Curses! I knew we shouldn't have taken the shortcut! For my premature actions, you may strike me!" Erza offered openly, hoping to receive penance.

"You're on that again?!" Lucy cried out, finding it safest to just slowly back away.

"Indeed, I am," Erza said proudly.

"She makes it sound like a righteous idea," Carla murmured.

"Aye…" Happy agreed, feeling sorry for the poor sucker who would actually take her up on her offer.


	10. Walk With Me

**Sorry for the long wait! No, I am not dead. I was just getting ready for a mission trip which led up to being away on a mission trip. Here's chapter ten. Happy has one announcement.**

 **Happy: I love fish!**

 **Not what I meant.**

 **Happy: Oh. Along with Garnet and Ruby, the OC Aquamarine belongs to TheGreatSakura! Also, there's a reference to the Ranger's past crossovers—which are insanely insane in a weird way—that involves a living bag of tacos. I don't recommend them.**

 **Hey!**

 **Happy: I meant the tacos. They were purchased at a gas station.**

 **Oh. Well, enjoy!**

 **Chapter 10: Walk With Me**

It wasn't more than a day since the return of Team Natsu when the red Exceed family plus Salberayreturned to Magnolia Town. They went straight to the guild to regale their friends with their exploits. Marl flew over to Ruby and cried out with glee, "You're having a kitten! Ruby, that's wonderful!"

"Thank you, Marl. I don't know whether it's a boy or a girl, but I want to be surprised. I'm blessed either way. I have my family back," Ruby responded, choking up a bit as she counted her blessings. "I have my boys and even though it's not the same, they have a new father figure."

"Ru is amazin'," Salberay swooned as he conversed with Lucky and Elfman. "A real woman."

"Oh! You mean a wo _man_!" Elfman bellowed heartily.

"Kah! I'm glad you finally found someone, Sal. You've been riding solo for too long," Lucky congratulated his friend and fellow Exceed.

"They were really loud one night. Brother and I barely slept," Crimson moaned to Carla and Happy.

"That cabin needed thicker walls," Garnet claimed in agreement. "They had noise makers and a lot of party garbage leftover from the wedding. What are they going to use it for when it's just the two of them? Am I right?"

"Aye!" Happy chirped cheerfully, happy to be talked to.

"But it was really cute when Sal serenaded Mommy with a banjo," Crimson recalled happily.

"That sounds so sweet," Carla marveled and started to imagine Happy performing on a banjo for her. She suddenly got close to him, relishing the daydream. Crimson responded by falling over in defeat, hopefully accepting the fact that he was not where he thought he was in the love triangle that consisted of himself, Carla, and Happy.

"Move onto someone new, Crim," Garnet advised flatly. He had improved on his people skills a bit since he had been reunited with his family, but there was room for more improvement. Just then, out the corner of his eye, he spotted two blue female Exceeds. One looked to be about his age, and the other was about Crimson's age. His attention was held captive by the older of the two females.

"Gar? Are you alright, sweetie?" Ruby asked, shaking her eldest son a little.

"That heavenly blue chick…" Garnet swooned. "I swear I've seen her somewhere before. She's purr-fect."

"Really? Purr-fect? Was that necessary?" Carla asked the older cat with crossed arms.

"The little blue one was cute," Crimson mused as he had caught a glimpse of them while positioning himself off of the guild floor. "Maybe you saw them after you escaped the orphanage or something."

"Crimson, c'mon! We've gotta catch them!" Garnet urged excitedly, grabbed his brother by the scruff, and dragged him out as fast as possible. "Excuse me! Hey! Miss! Little Miss! Hey, wait up!"

The two females stopped and turned around, revealing to the red brothers their bright sea green eyes. The taller one was approximately two inches shorter than Garnet, and she wore a white t-shirt with a blue dolphin jumping from ocean waves weaved across the front. The smaller one wore a blue t-shirt with a pink hair on it. Both wore the same style of denim shorts.

"Can my sister and I help you with something?" the other one asked. The younger one hid behind her older sister, peeking out at Crimson.

"I, um, well, I just…" Garnet stammered.

"We were talking to some friends when you happened to steal my brother's heart, making you his favorite thief," Crimson said smoothly, if not too smoothly. "He said you looked familiar. I kind of hoped he'd remember you if he knew you. I've seen a lot of people and I can tell by looking at you that you're the type that's hard to forget."

"Aww! Well, thank you! Actually, your brother looks familiar to me, too. Um…Garnet, right?"

"Yep," Garnet finally found his voice, amazed at how well Crimson was able to talk to women. Sometimes, he talked to them too well, got too attracted to them, and then would propose. Luckily, this was not one of those times.

"The little one is cute," the younger blue female murmured as she shyly hid behind her sister.

"Maybe this will jog your memory. My name is Aquamarine. They call me Aqua for short," the older blue cat introduced herself. Garnet's eyes lit up, but it was difficult to tell whether that gleam was bedazzlement or recollection. Aquamarine pulled her little sister out from behind her and kept her there by wrapping her tail around the both of them. "And this little cutie is my sister. Her name is Azure. Say hello."

"H-hi," Azure stuttered softly, then turned around and hugged Aquamarine as if she were a giant blue teddy bear.

"Hi. I'm Crimson," Crimson introduced himself and smiled pleasantly. His reply was proof that he had gained a sense of social protocol.

"Crimson," Azure echoed softly, her voice muffled by her sister's chest. _He's so cute!_

"Hey, Crimson, can I talk to you for a second?" Happy poked his head out the door and called out. "It's really important."

"Sure," Crimson obliged and returned to the guild. He walked into a huge semicircle of people waiting for him. "What's going on? Is this an intervention?"

"Crimson, we need your help for a very important mission," Carla began.

"We're going to snuff out Cursed Fang once and for all," Natsu continued.

"And you know where their hideout is, so we need you to show us," Gray continued further.

"It's kind of creepy of you guys to continue this long, continuous train of thought. It's creepier than that dream I had where a bag of tacos from a gas station grew a pair of legs and became a serial killer," Crimson interjected with a comment.

"You have an overactive imagination," Carla commented flatly. "But I'll indulge in it if I must. Please, will you help us?" She took his paws in hers and begged. "Please, Crimson, walk with me towards a future without wanton murder and fear of extremists!"

"Sure. I just have one condition," Crimson replied, intriguing everyone. "I want Jet's old hat." With that, he pointed to the speedy wizard. "They want my head. Something has to balance that out. Am I right?"

"Well…" Carla's voice started to work, but trailed off on account of the fact that she had no idea how to argue with that without endangering the mission.

"Pfft. Sure, take it," Team Shadow Gear's Jet scoffed at the thought of keeping it when he hadn't worn it in the past few years. "You can put it to use."

"Great! Oh, yeah! And the weird stuff in Lucy's underwear drawer," Crimson added.

"What?!" Lucy cried out in shock.

"You do have a secretly odd taste in fashion," Erza remarked.

"Lucy, this is no time for personal feelings. Give the cat whatever mumbo jumbo he's talking about so we can plan our attack!" Makarov ordered, causing the blonde to let out a perturbed grumble.

"He doesn't need any of that," Ruby intervened.

"It is a nice hat," Jet said, ran home, and came back in ten seconds. Presenting the hat, he knew he won Ruby over.

"…Okay, he can have the hat, but he's to keep his paws off of other people's clothing!" the pregnant red cat deemed.

"A mother knows best," Makarov chuckled to himself. "It is a nice hat."


	11. Glory and Pain

**Here's chapter 11. Things are starting to pick up. I realized that this is the type of story that needs more battles due to the plot. Plus, I'm at that point in the story anyway. I'll try to keep it going as long as I can because I want to equal if not surpass Three Little Words (which will be hard considering it felt and still feels like a potential masterpiece to me). Well, I don't really have anything more to say.**

 **Happy: Aye! Then let's get to it! I love Carla!**

 **As we are aware. They're a cute couple! Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 11: Glory and Pain**

Several wizards from the Allied Forces infiltrated the forest that Team Natsu recognized to be the forest where they first fought the Cursed Fang guild. Team Natsu, Team Lyon, the Trimens, Team Shadow Gear, the Thunder Legion, and many other teams stealthily trekked the wooded area in squads. Even Sabertooth and Mermaid Heel joined the endeavor. They were all linked by a large telepathic network formed by a group of telepathic wizards that was based outside of the forest in a rangers' watch tower. Heading the telepathic group was Fairy Tail's Warren Rocko.

"Are you nervous? After all, you're not particularly welcomed there anymore…" Carla asked Crimson with concern. She had no romantic interest in him, but he had risked his life and abandoned the closest thing to home he had just to help Fairy Tail, and here he was doing it again.

"I'm ready. Thanks to you and your bond with Happy and all the other members of your guild, I know there's better out there. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I'm glad Seri left and moved away. I'm happy for that for a number of reasons," Crimson replied. Seriousness and determination lingered in his eyes. Strength flooded his voice. "The fact that I didn't see it sooner makes my blood boil. This is the best way for me to bury the past."

"Crimson…" Carla gasped in amazement. His words and the dedication to them astounded her. He moved her with his resolve. It was a beautiful moment.

"Aye, sir! I couldn't agree more!" Happy said in agreement and wrapped an arm around Crimson. "Let's kick some butt, buddy! We're the strongest team!"

"Buddies? Us?" Crimson asked in confusion.

"Aye!" the blue cat chirped.

"Those Cursed Fang guys aren't making a new world. They're just screwing everything up in this one," Natsu growled lowly. He was more than peeved at Cursed Fang for their deeds, including all of the murder, fake jobs, ambushes, kidnapping, and theft. "The thought of kicking these guys' butts has me all fired up now!"

"Yeah, yeah, just don't get us spotted, Pinky," Gray ordered indifferently.

"I liked you two better when you actually got along," Erza grumbled and scanned the area. "Why can't you be friends?"

"Because he's a jerk!" both teenage boys answered at the same time. All Lucy could do was sigh as Erza tried to mediate their bickering. She cared deeply for Natsu, but was disappointed by how he tended to lack maturity. She had to admit that Gray started it. Or did she? She was starting to become biased by infatuation.

"Shh! The wind is speaking to me!" Wendy shushed everyone. She listened closely to the wind, nodding as though she understood wind speech.

"She's been hanging around the old bat for too long," Natsu mumbled, referring to Porlyusica.

"She's gone guano-crazy," Crimson muttered. "That's more polite than what I would have said before I found my real family."

"Before _I_ found you your real family," Happy corrected.

"Teach us, Wendy. Speak the words of the heavenly wind!" Erza begged, intrigued by the concept of the words of the wind.

"I know Lucy's deepest secret!" Happy suddenly announced. "She wears size four jeans!"

"How do you know that?" Gray asked the blue cat.

"I don't."

"Something's coming!" Wendy spoke the words of the wind.

Suddenly, everyone was on high alert. Happy held Carla protectively. Lucy brandished her keys and whip. Erza summoned a spear that she kept in her pocket dimension. Gray took on his casting stance. The wind spiraled around Wendy. Natsu radiated intense heat. Crimson watched them all in awe. The something that was coming had come, and that something turned out to be Crimson's older brother—Garnet—who was the last person (or rather, the last cat) that any of them expected to tag along. Crimson eagerly hugged Garnet and asked, "What are you doing here, Brother?"

"What do you mean? You actually thought I'd let my baby brother fight the bad guys all by himself?" Garnet asked rhetorically. Even though he hadn't known Crimson as long as he should have, he still felt the obligation to protect him. "I'm going with you."

"You're the best big brother ever, Brother!" Crimson exclaimed with a cheerful mew, rubbing his face into Garnet's chest. Garnet blushed deeply, but it was barely noticeable through his red furred face.

"You two are so cute!" Erza suddenly hugged them both. "I wish I was fortunate enough to have partners like you! How about it?"

"No," Garnet simply and flatly responded.

"You're pretty," Crimson complimented Erza, ignoring her question.

"Why, thank you!" Erza thanked. She put them down and said, "Lead the way." With that cue, Crimson guided Team Natsu through the woods as they kept the other squads posted via telepathy. The woods seemed to grow thicker at a gradual rate. Even more mentally straining, they seemed to go on forever.

"Usually, they have a couple of people out on patrol. I'm surprised we haven't seen them yet," Crimson mumbled, holding Garnet's paw.

"Lucy, if we do run into the bad guys, I want you to stay behind me," Natsu informed Lucy.

The blonde Celestial wizard didn't like that. She defensively pointed out, "You can't jump into every single fight, Natsu. Even your body can't take that. That's why we're a team. You can count on me to have your back, you know."

"Oh, cool! I didn't know that!" Natsu's face lit up as if what Lucy had said was a new idea. "Good thinking!"

"Thanks…" the blonde girl sarcastically thanked.

"Shh! I hear something!" Wendy shushed everyone again.

"Is it the wind?" Gray asked mockingly. Of course, it was all in good fun.

"No," the blue haired girl answered innocently. The awkwardness of the moment caused them to be silent enough to hear crunching leaves and dirt not too far away. Footsteps.

"Patrol sure is boring, eh?" a voice called out to another.

"Yeah, but we need to keep our guard up. We can't let those guild rats stomp all over our grand dream," another voice responded from the same direction. "We especially need to keep our guard up now that Crimson is roaming around freely."

"He's been a bad kitty and must be punished," the first voice agreed, which caused Crimson to tremble nervously.

"I never liked him anyway. He took all the ladylike attention," the second voice complained. Team Natsu plus Garnet gave Crimson the collective bewildered eye.

"I can't help my cute genes!" Crimson rasped defensively.

"I'm not sure I want to know…" Carla muttered. Her tail twitched with every distance crunch of dirt she heard, dreading whatever was to come.

"Do you know who those voices are?" Lucy whispered to Crimson.

"The first one is called Raider. The second one was Kaijin. Both are powerful men…" Crimson swallowed nervously. His red fur stood on end at the thought of facing them. He tried desperately to cling to his resolve in the sea of fear that roared in his mind.

"Don't you worry about a thing, kid. Lyon's over in that direction," Gray said in an assuring manner. "He wasn't one of Ur's students for nothing."

"So…you're just going to let him show you up?" Natsu asked curiously, knowing that such a thing would irritate Gray to the point of provoked physical altercation. Gray suddenly jumped up, threw off his shirt, and ran over in the direction of Raider, Kaijin, and Lyon at break-neck speed.

"Gray-san, wait!" Wendy called out, hoping to keep the group together.

"I got this! Go on ahead!" Gray called back. He ran and ran until he jumped out into a frozen clearing. Lyon Bastia stood before two men. One was tan, gruff and was about average height. He had beady, psychotic eyes that just screamed 'kill, kill, kill!'. His lower teeth were jagged, protruding knives. His dark hair was hidden by a Viking helmet. He wore shamefully unkempt armor that would make Erza livid on sight. Gray thought he looked like a savage alien.

The other man was tall and wore a skull mask and a dark cloak. Though the mask style and cloak color were different, Gray thought that the taller man had a Tiran-like getup. It was hard to see his physical features, but Fairy Tail's residential ice mage could feel the ominous power that he radiated.

"Let's kill him, Kaijin! I'm tired of waiting! Quit playing around! Besides, he's probably got a bounty on the black market as Lamia Scale's ace! He's a good fetch!" the shorter, seemingly more psychotic man urged excitedly. Since he referred to the other man as Kaijin, he was deemed to be Raider by process of elimination.

"Look," Kaijin gestured over to Gray. He was calm, deep-voiced, confident, and near emotionless. His voice almost didn't seem real. "Another has joined the fray."

Growling, Gray's gaze shifted from them to his rival. "Lyon! Hey, Lyon, why are you just standing there?!"

"Try all you like, but he's busy with purgatory right now," Kaijin chuckled. Gray got closer, wary of the two Cursed Fang members, and looked into Lyon's eyes. They were angry, terrified, and struggling all at once. Kaijin mused, "See? Purgatory."

Gray, with his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes, turned to the two men and demanded, "What did you do?"

"I shut him up," Kaijin informed Gray with no empathy.

"He put up a good fight! My blood is rushing like a river!" Raider jittered excitedly. "I'm going to fight him. It'll cure my boredom."

"Have at him," Kaijin nodded in acknowledgement. Gray had just enough time to notice the large, black axe strapped to Kaijin's back when Raider charged at him.

"Try this on for size!" Raider hissed excitedly, now inches away from Gray. His hands turned to stone and he started jabbing at the Fairy Tail wizard.

"What the…?" Gray gasped as he barely dodged. He jumped back and was about to ice blast Raider, but the psychopath was gone in a cloud of frozen dust. Looking around rapidly, the ice mage growled, "Where'd you run off to?!"

"You'll be drowning in madness and the bearer of a fragile mind when I'm through with you. Illusion magic…Gate of the Abyss!" Kaijin chanted. The frozen clearing darkened all of a sudden before Gray found himself in a dark rift.

"What is this?" Gray looked around. "What happened? I was just in a clearing that Lyon probably froze over a second ago. This is just plain trippy…"

He wasn't sure where he was, but he found it more probable that he was trapped in an illusion created by Kaijin (his chant before casting the spell was a big tipoff). While thinking, he hadn't noticed Raider standing before him. And behind him. And to his left and right. Above him. Diagonal from him in all directions. What a strange and unwanted illusion.

He eyed them all, hoping that the real Raider had been caught in the illusion and was among fakes, but that didn't seem probable. Suddenly, among the Raiders was Juvia tried up in steel cable. Kaijin appeared from the darkness and brought his large axe to her neck. His eyes widened and he cried out, "Juvia—AH!" One of the Raiders had shoved a stone hand into his back. Another one into his chest. Then one into his abdomen. His body burned hotter than Natsu's flames. Pain far greater than he had ever imagined surged through his body. Several different colors flashed before him before black. What was this?! A stone hand was about to be shoved into his face when suddenly.

"ARCTIC NUDIIIIIIST!" an annoyingly familiar voice cried out and Gray found himself back in reality, being tackled by Natsu as Raider—the real Raider—attempted to jab him with a stone hand. Happy flew in from the trees and kicked Raider in the face with incredible cat force.

Panicked, Gray scanned the area. Wendy was tending to Lyon, as was Chelia. Lyon was lying down and seemed dazed, but fully conscious nonetheless.

Erza was fighting Kaijin with a spear. She then dodged the larger man's axe and switched to twin swords and slashed at him with many X-shaped cuts. Shadows erupted from beneath them, which was collectively suspected to Kaijin's doing, and attempted to pierce Erza. The redheaded young woman grinded her swords against the shadows to dodge them.

"Now I've got you!" Raider cried out and charged Erza, shrugging off the nose-breaking impact he had just received from Happy's adorable paws.

"I don't think so!" Lucy called out from behind him and lassoed him with her whip. She yanked him back, which was made easy thanks to the lack of friction that the ice provided. She proceeded to flip him face first into the ice. Garnet and Crimson followed up on this by anticlimactically sitting in his head.

Erza continued to clash with Kaijin, and their battle cut clean through several trees as it progressed. Axe against sword. Sword against axe. Clash! Clang! Slice! Clash! Clang! Slice! Bang! The blades crashed against each other with such impact that a grand display of sparks turned their battle into a light show, of which Erza was the star. She parried the axe for a final time, jumped up, and kicked Kaijin into a tree. She tackled him in the solar plexus and knocked the wind out of him.

"Whoa! Go, Erza!" Natsu cheered as he held Gray like a bride. He looked at the ice mage in bewilderment and said, "You're not Lucy. Get off."

"Well, excuse me!" Gray huffed, offended. He got out of Natsu's arms, stormed over to Lucy, and said, "Apparently you're the only one worth his time."

"Carla, you're so amazing!" Happy swooned as Carla hogtied Raider.

"There," Carla finished and marveled at her handiwork. "This one should be a nuisance to us no more."

"Where did you learn to do that?" Lucy inquired.

"I'm a cat living in a human's world," Carla answered simply and started humming to herself nonchalantly.


	12. Seal of the Den

**Chapter 12: Seal of the Den**

Upon defeating Kaijin and Raider, Crimson remembered to bring up a very important detail. "Let's take one of them hostage. There's a boulder door that has a magic lock. Only people with Cursed Fang's mark can open it, and I erased my mark, so…"

"It's a good thing Carla hogtied this guy, then," Wendy pointed out as she gestured to Raider.

"Raider's the less dangerous of the two. Even though he is more offensive in combat, he doesn't use any mind-breaking, life-scarring trickery like Kaijin! Kaijin will make you think you're being cut down, then cut you down for real!" Crimson explained the Cursed Fang wizard's powers to the group.

"If he can shake up cool, calm ice wizards like Lyon and Gray, then…" Chelia trailed off, trying not to imagine herself, Wendy, or any of her other allies trapped in an abyss of their own mind.

"HEY, WE WEREN'T SHAKEN UP THAT BADLY!" Gray and Lyon were on the verbal defensive, but their eyes told different stories. Suddenly and simultaneously, they asked, "Is Juvia okay?!"

"Juvia? Yeah, she's fine. She, Cana, and some guys from Quatro Cerberus are a little off to the west of us," Lucy reported based on the telepathic link between everyone. "Didn't you know from the link?"

"That illusion must have cut us off," Lyon deduced.

"Like that creep was going to cut off Juvia's head," Gray muttered. Everyone but Erza shuddered at the mentioning of it.

"Wait a second. You saw it, too?" Lyon asked. Coincidentally, they had gone through the same illusionary purgatory. They spent a good few minutes staring at each other in confirmation. Then, he thought to ask, "When did Quatro Cerberus get in on this?"

"You must have subconsciously been pushing away their 'Wild Four' chant," Chelia theorized.

"At any rate, we've gotta shrug this off so we can move forward," Gray sighed.

Happy hugged Carla tightly, whispering in her ear, "I know you're strong and crazy smart, but I'm still worried about you going into this. I wouldn't let anything happen to you, but still…"

"Perish the thought. Happy, I trust you with my life. I'm seeing this through. No one can back out. Understood?" Carla told him reassuringly.

Happy gazed into Carla's eyes for a few seconds and gave a hearty, "Aye, sir!"

"I love you, you know," Carla endearingly reminded him and kissed his cheek. "I know we're young, but Exceeds mature differently from humans. And you…though you may act like a kitten most of the time, you're very mature when it counts the most. I can think back to many times in Edolas when you we're very mature and very brave."

"Really? Y-you mean it?" the blue cat asked excitedly.

"Of course I do. How could I not? You _are_ my favorite tomcat, after all," Carla said with a giggle. She hugged him in response to his hug. "Come. We have a mission to see through."

"Aye!" Happy saluted cheerfully.

"Hup!" Erza huffed and lifted the hogtied Raider with one arm, astounding everyone. "Okeedoke, let's go."

"She's so nonchalant…" Garnet said in amazement.

"Wow!" Crimson exclaimed, awe-struck. "She's amazing!"

"Is that why you want to name our new sibling Scarlet?" Garnet asked him flatly.

"Pure coincidence," Crimson replied innocently. "I'm hot-blooded!"

"We'd better be very careful. Anyone who can fly, you hover. The less footsteps there are for the sentries on the enemy side to hear, the better," Erza ordered. "By the way, Lucy, how many women have drowned in your family?"

"Uh…none for the past eight generations," Lucy answered. "Why do you ask?"

"It's no wonder you've survived being washed away by Aquarius so many times," Erza marveled. "It's commendable."

"Thanks," Lucy thanked the redhead awkwardly.

"You'll be our ace in the hole if we face any water specialists," Erza gave Lucy a designated role.

"Uh…okay."

"Natsu will be our trump card against fire specialists and perhaps the final battle. Gray, let me know when you're ready for a fight. Wendy, I need you ready to enchant and heal at all times. Crimson, try to remember every square inch of Cursed Fang's hideout. Garnet, watch out for your little brother. Carla and Happy, keep on being adorable," Erza designated positions to her squad. Her tone was gravely serious. "I have a feeling that there will be no turning back once we reach that sealed door. Worst case scenario, we may die. Don't let that happen." Turning to her comrades, she asked, "Are you ready?"

"What are you talking about? Of course we are!" Natsu said enthusiastically.

"I'm going to give this everything I've got!" Lucy announced, clearly determined.

"There's no question," Gray declared as he froze Kaijin to the ground. "There. He shouldn't be bothering us or coming to rescue his buddy for quite a while."

"I love our world, and I'll do whatever it takes to protect it!" Wendy screamed to the heavens.

"Erza, you flatter me," Carla said with a blush.

"Aye, sir!" Happy saluted once more.

"Good. I know I can always count on you all," the redheaded armor-donning mage nodded in approval with a wide grin. Her eyes softened. She felt the urge to hug everyone.

"I guess we're in this together," Garnet said with a smile as he wrapped a red furred arm around Crimson.

"Yeah! You bet! Have you ever thought of joining Fairy Tail?" Crimson asked.

"Once or twice," Garnet admitted, blushing and avoiding eye contact.

"If you don't want to join Fairy Tail, you can always join Lamia Scale!" Chelia advertised.

"Can we please avoid a recruitment war until after we break this dark guild? Thank you," Carla requested, wanting her comrades to retain their focus on the mission.

"This way! It's this way! C'mon, follow me!" Crimson spread his wings and flew ahead, the other Exceeds following him, and the humans following them. He guided them over bushes and around trees. They kept trekking until they reached a strange rock formation in the middle of the forest. Kagura Mikazuchi, Millianna, and Risley Law of Mermaid Heel were there. Also there were Fairy Tail's own Cana and Juvia, accompanied by the entirety of the Grand Magic Games Team Quatro Cerberus (otherwise known as Quatro Puppy). The rest of Lyon's team waited patiently for him and Chelia. Finally, a team composed of Lucky, Pantherlily, Elfman, and Gajeel were present. From this, Erza deduced, "I guess the other teams are still searching."

"You guys know what's up with this big boulder?" Risley spoke up, getting right to the point. "Not even Kagura and I combining our Gravity Change magic can move this thing."

"It's…annoying," Kagura muttered begrudgingly. "Curse you, wretched rock!"

"It's magically set to react only to Cursed Fang members," Crimson spoke up and jumped into Kagura's arms. He smiled cutely at her.

Kagura gazed into Crimson's eyes, then studied his slightly protruding fang. She found him to be so cute it moved her to tears. She announced, "I want him."

"Hey, no fair!" Millianna whined. "Kitties are my obsession, Kagura-chan!"

"Open the door!" Erza threw Raider into the boulder as hard as she could. At first, nothing regarding the boulder had happened. Then, some runes glowed to life on the boulder and promptly vanished. The boulder shone with bright white light and deconstructed.

"Carla's hogtying saved the day!" Happy declared cheerfully, hugging the white pussycat. "You're the best, Carla!"

"All I did was utilize some rope," Carla claimed modestly, getting flustered.

"So that's it…" Jura marveled at the cavernous entrance where the boulder once was. "That's incredible. Smart thinking on their part." Naturally, an earth specialist like Jura would be impressed with an earth-magic-based security spell.

"Uh…I hope we don't have too many people," Sherry, Chelia's cousin, murmured. She then gave Carla a furious glance, but the white cat simply shrugged it off. "First she calls me gaudy, and then she ignores me?!"

"I doubt this will be at all too many. You see, Cursed Fang's hideout is like a giant maze or a colony of snakes or badgers or some other borrowing animal that lives in colonies," Crimson began to explain.

"Oh! You mean they're like ants!" Lucy provided another analogy.

"Yeah! If a few people get lost, we can afford it, especially if we want to apprehend as many people as we can. Plus, it's ideal to go after Master Tiran in force," Crimson continued.

"Not to mention there is probably at least one of their remaining elites. And for all we know, the one Natsu fought could be recovering in an infirmary. His level of threat to us will be dependent on his condition since their battle," Carla added. The large group of guild wizards stood there and gazed at the cave. With the seal of the den now broken, all they had to do was go in.


	13. Into the Labyrinth

**Chapter 13: Into the Labyrinth**

The group stood before the cavernous entrance, feeling out the situation. Should they wait? Should they go? On the one hand, there was safety in numbers. On the other hand, a group that was larger would be less mobile.

Happy started bouncing in place rhythmically. Finding this peculiar, Carla nudged him and asked, "What are you doing that for?"

"I've got a really cool song stuck in my head!" Happy exclaimed cheerfully. Carla put on a smile and decided to just let it be.

"I say we wait for the pipsqueak and her friends," Gajeel voted. There was no way he'd show it, but he was worried about Levy out there, and he didn't find her teammates of Team Shadow Gear to be the most reliable in spite of the fact that their hearts were in the right place.

"We can't just stand here forever! What if we get caught?!" Natsu demanded.

"Well, what if we lock them out?!" Gajeel countered, getting in Natsu's face.

"Enough, both of you! I have an idea!" Erza tore the Dragon Slayers away from each other. Utilizing her Requip magic, she summoned a notepad and paper and started to write on the top sheet of the notepad. She tore the sheet of paper off, slipped it into the rope that bound Raider, and started off into the labyrinth. "Come on. They'll know how to get in. That note will ensure it."

"Aye!" Happy bounced in after the armored young woman. The other wizards started following her. Carla watched Happy bounce and couldn't help but wonder what song he was thinking of.

"You sure you're not to mentally scarred to do this, Gray?" Natsu nudged Gray teasingly.

"Scars? Who did that to you, Gray-sama! Juvia will make them pay in blood!" Juvia vowed. Gray simply sighed, punched Natsu, and pulled Juvia off her high horse by placing a hand on her shoulder. Juvia instantly recognized that he was fine and let out an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"In the event of separation, try to apprehend everyone you can," Kagura ordered.

"I wish I had a kitty just like you!" Millianna swooned as she forcefully cuddled with Pantherlily.

"Listen, you're very pretty, but I'm a married man," Pantherlily tried to be upfront yet gentle.

Gajeel, who was jealously observing this little debacle, muttered, "I'm not sure which one of them is taking this the wrong way…"

"One more thing," Erza called back from up front. "If we run into that ninja, Strike, then I will face off with him. In such an event, sword against sword seems like the best option."

"Did you say 'Strike'?" Kagura asked with widened eyes. "That slippery, two-in-one pain in my side owes me a battle to make up for last time."

"Did he have a raspy voice and blood red eyes?" Erza questioned, very interested at this point.

"The very same!" Kagura exclaimed.

Erza stopped walking to allow Kagura to catch up. Kagura caught up, stopped, and faced Erza. They stared into each other's eyes and locked fingers as if they were struggling against each other. For a brief moment, everyone was afraid that they would fight over who takes on Strike, but to everyone's surprise and to the falsehood of their characters, they started jumping up and down like school girls or crazy people, shouting that they would take Strike down together.

"What am I watching?" Lucy asked rhetorically as she watched.

"I feel like I'm back in that masked guy's illusion," Gray mumbled.

Once Erza and Kagura were able to calm themselves, there was nowhere but down. Down, down, deeper into the intricate tunnel network. Carla suddenly thought to ask Crimson, "Do you recognize where you are?"

"Probably," Crimson answered, which wasn't very assuring to anyone.

"What do you mean probably?! You grew up here!" Garnet demanded.

"That's the liveliest I think any of us have ever seen you," Wendy told the red cat innocently. She started to massage his shoulders. "Garnet-kun, you need to loosen up a little. You're so tense. There…" Garnet felt so good from Wendy's tender rubbing that he started purring and leaned into her. "Aww, you're so cute!"

"I'll let you get away with it just this once," Garnet purred.

"Liar! You love it!" Happy teased and Carla clutched his paw.

"Natsu, do you smell any familiar people?" Lucy asked, getting close to Natsu.

"I smell you. Your hair smells like strawberries," Natsu answered.

Blushing, Lucy informed him, "That's not what I meant. I meant 'do you smell any familiar enemies?'"

"You're not an enemy, Luce."

"Never mind…"

"Hey, I haven't heard Cana or Quatro Cerberus in a while," Chelia pointed out. Everyone looked to the back of the group and they were gone.

"We've been separated from them already?!" Lucy cried out, shocked.

"That's almost impressive in a sense," Lyon muttered and rubbed his temples with the index finger and thumb of his right hand. "Just what I'd expect from those wild, venturous men."

"They'll be fine. They have Cana with them," Erza said confidently. "She's a force to be reckoned with.

"Well, more fight for us," Natsu growled giddily with a clenched fist. As per usual, he was ready for any fight that came his way, unless it was aboard a magic vehicle. The one vehicle ride he almost enjoyed sans Troia was the time when he was aboard a lacrima-powered boat owned by Cursed Fang and he tore it to boards with a single Lightning Flame Dragon Roar, but it wasn't the boat he enjoyed. It was jumping into Lucy's arms as the boat fell apart. The vehicle that he enjoyed was the magic surfboard she was on when she told him to jump into her arms. It gave her a good reason to wear a bikini and she did save him. The only problem with it was his motion sickness medication wore off the moment he jumped.

"On the flip side, they might be doing all the fighting in other parts of the labyrinth, so we're just going to get bigger fights," Happy presented Natsu with an alternative.

"That's a good point," Natsu acknowledged, taking a moment to think about the situation.

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed.

"This place makes me feel so unsafe…" Carla shuddered. She blushed and almost jumped when Happy wrapped his arm firmly around her shoulder.

"Don't worry. You'll have me to take care of any bad guys who come your way," the blue cat assured her. This made her wonder whether or not he had mastered the Shining Aera already, but whether or not he had didn't change the fact that she knew she could trust him. She placed her head on his shoulder and sighed dreamily, knowing everything would be alright. She loved the world she lived in. Happy made her love it even more.


	14. Sky Lords

**Here's chapter 14! In honor (** **CANON SPOILER ALERT** **) of the Devil Slayer concept, I created an OC Devil Slayer.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 14: Sky Lords**

As the remaining group trekked on, both Wendy and Chelia tensed up. Carla, out of focused concern for Wendy, asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I just got a weird sensation. That's all," Wendy said reassuringly.

"Me, too," Chelia added. "It felt…somehow familiar. Like when I met Wendy, but…different in a way."

"Yeah, same here!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Are you two related or something? Like long lost twins or members of the same crime syndicate?" Natsu teased them.

"But I'm not a criminal!" Wendy whined defensively.

"I'm just kidding you."

"Oh."

"Do you think it's someone who can use wind magic?" Gray whispered to Erza. "Or rather sky magic? After all, they both got the sensation and they're both Sky-something Slayers."

"You have a valid point," Erza acknowledged. "I'm concerned by it as well. There's not a lot we can do, though, except leave it to them. After their tied match at the Grand Magic Games, we can hopefully say that those girls are roughly at equal strength. Having those two team up would make them an unstoppable tempest. If we happen to run into another Sky-something Slayer as you call it, I think our best course of action is to leave it to them."

They came to a triple-pronged fork in the road. Darkness extended eerily down each of the three tunnels. Crimson carefully approached the opening of the entrances. He thought aloud, "Hmm…I think the right way is…"

Suddenly, a powerful gust erupted from the central tunnel. Everyone braced himself or herself, and Wendy and Chelia both let out inaudible gasps. Lucy hid behind Natsu. Happy held onto Carla as Carla was holding her skirt down. Juvia tried to protect Gray by wrapping her water body around him like armor. Speaking of armor, Erza utilized her Requip magic and reequipped into her Black Wing armor.

Everyone seemed to have their own way of bracing themselves against the wind. Jura was about to use his earth magic to seal the center tunnel when Crimson howled over the wind, "Wait! I think that's the most direct tunnel to the master's chamber!"

The wind started to die down and footsteps could faintly be heard. A young girl, about thirteen or so, standing at Wendy and Chelia's height, emerged from the deep black darkness of the middle tunnel. She had green hair and blood red eyes. She wore a long orange skirt with red clouds and an orange blouse with Cursed Fang's mark on the front in black. The group made a silent, unanimous agreement that the dark guild either had a weaver or blackmailed a shirt manufacturing company. Either way, seeing endorsement for an illegal guild was nothing less than a shock. The girl had sharp teeth and a great pressure was emitted from her. She wore dark violet prayer beads around her neck. The girl pleasantly introduced herself, "I'm Avia Caelumbra, but you can call me the Sky Devil Slayer."

"Devil Slayer?" Gray gasped, thinking back to their mission in the Sun Village. _So when the ice hurt that demon…_

"So you can use sky magic, too?" Wendy questioned, suddenly eager to fight, much to the surprise of…well, everyone.

"You've got a pretty pleasant demeanor for someone in a dark guild," Chelia commented. Forceful winds swirled around her and Wendy.

"Thanks! I'm kind of here on account of a debt. Anyway, there's no way you'll find the master in our vast hideout. You probably won't even be able to go back the way you came," Avia boasted. She then eyed Crimson and screamed. "You vile fiends kidnapped and brainwashed our cutie patootie! How dare you!"

"I left of my own free will…" Crimson mumbled as Garnet wrapped two protective arms around him.

Avia wouldn't have it. She seemed menacingly calm. Her voice was frighteningly calm. Her eyes went cold. She said, "Why don't I show you how debt works. No one should know that better than you and I, Crimson." The right side of her body started to turn as black as the inky darkness of the tunnels.

"Crim, what's she talking about?" Garnet asked his little brother in a low voice.

"She's comparing me being raised by Cursed Fang to her family in Xenia Town repaying a debt to Tiran by having Avia participate in guild activities. She was relatively new when I last saw her. She had been here for about four months when I had left," Crimson explained. "It's a shame. She's one of the ones I had taken a liking to."

"You guys go on ahead," Wendy requested. "Chelia and I can take her."

"How do you know you won't get more lost?" Avia asked smugly. She seemed to go through a drastic mood shift in seconds. Hormones, maybe?

"Because of you," Erza spoke up. "If you didn't have something to protect, would you have come out of that tunnel? It only makes sense that you'd come out from the right tunnel to slow us down instead of waiting for a sneak attack in one of the dead-end tunnels."

"Y-you—" Avia stammered, causing Erza to smirk.

"Is my assessment correct?"

"You…How did…? And with just logic and my walking out here…?" Avia continued to stammer. Half of her body had turned jet black at this point. She suddenly screeched and blasted everyone with wind, but Wendy and Chelia used their powers to block the attack.

"Go!" Chelia urged.

"We'll catch up!" Wendy promised. The others started swarming around Avia as Chelia and Wendy rushed forward and kept the Sky Devil Slayer busy.

Happy held Carla's paw and dragged her along like a bag of bricks. She was reluctant to leave Wendy's side. The blue tomcat urged the white molly, "C'mon! We've got to hurry!"

"But what about Wendy?" Carla asked with tears in her eyes, not wanting to leave the friend she'd known since birth.

"Trust her. She trusts you to help get the job done. You owe it to her to trust her," Happy reasoned. "Please, Carla, remember what you said to Crimson. Walk with me. Though I recommend running or flying at this point."

"…Okay," Carla nodded, glanced back, and ran down the corridor with Happy.

"Sky Devil Claw!" Avia swiped at Wendy, who barely managed to dodge. With a low sweep, she knocked Avia off her feet.

"Sky Dragon Wing Attack!" Wendy swung her arms and huge gusts of wind hurled Avia into the wall.

"Sky God's Bellow!" Chelia bellowed as black winds erupted from her lungs. Her intent was to crush Avia between the wind and the wall just enough to knock her out. This wasn't the case, though, as Avia jumped out of the way and sped towards Chelia, ready to jab the Sky God Slayer with a wind-enveloped hand.

"Arms! Armor! Vernier!" Wendy enchanted herself and Chelia, making both of them faster, stronger, and sturdier. Chelia made use of this and deflected Avia's attack with a single hand. She then grabbed the Sky Devil Slayer's wrist and threw her to Wendy, who took that as an opening. She and Chelia locked eyes and nodded at each other. "Sky Dragon Talon!" With that, Wendy kicked a tornado at Avia, blasting her back into Chelia.

Chelia grabbed Avia, who was dazed at this point, and restrained her, interrogating, "What kind of debt does your family owe Tiran?"

"I doubt you'd understand… I bet you didn't grow up in the slums," Avia mumbled. "I'll tell you anyway, because I doubt you'll let me go until I do… Long story short, the master lent money where it was needed. In return, he said he needed recruits, and my unique powers were put to good use."

"…I think it sounds like he's been using you for that power. Even with all of Tiran's power, he is only one man. It takes a network of people to bring about a new world. Just like it takes more than a single person to bring about a kinder atmosphere. Together, people can do great things and build off of each other's actions. And I know you have the power to pay it forward, too. Please…you don't belong here. You're like Crimson. You're too kind to be here," Wendy begged.

"I hate being here. I don't like how they do things. I used to think they were friendly until they asked me to…kill…" Avia confessed.

"What did you do?" Chelia asked her, letting go out of sympathy.

"I said no…and they started beating me," Avia admitted with tears in her eyes. She turned around, unbuttoned her blouse, and lowered it halfway to allow the other two Sky-something Slayers to see her scars. "I tried healing them, but they never fully healed. I think they will someday, though, if I keep trying." The blackness receded slowly. To the Sky Devil Slayer's surprise, the other two young girls started casting their healing magic on her back.

"No one deserves to be treated this way," Chelia remarked in disgust. "Don't worry. When we take this guild down, we'll avenge you and all the people they've wounded or killed."

"It doesn't matter how powerful Master Tiran is—we'll beat him," Wendy said in assurance. Avia was amazed. "Why not join a guild? You can work to repay that debt without being so heavily abused. Send money home to your family in Xenia. You're clearly sharp and talented. You're really fast, too, and without any enchantments."

"I…" Avia seemed hesitant.

"You do want to leave, don't you?" the other two girls asked simultaneously as they each held out their free hand to her.

Shakily, she clutched both hands with each of her own and began to cry. "Yes… Thank you…" She reached toward her Cursed Fang mark on her side and erased it.

Meanwhile, all was going well for the rest of the group, except for the fact that Jura made a mobile cart out of earth and used it to transport the group faster, which made Natsu and Gajeel very motion sick. Gajeel moaned, "Stop this thing…"

"Kah! Your stomachs are far from manly!" Lucky shouted in disgust and pity.

"Aye…" Happy agreed with the personal experience of growing up with the super-motion-sick Natsu rolling around in his mind. He noticed that Carla kept looking behind them longingly, as if she expected Wendy to come running along at the speed of a tornado and jump into the earthy cart. He tightly hugged her, trying to let her know that everything would be okay. He had to believe that for her sake. As natural as it was for her to worry, he didn't want her to worry. His tail became entwined with hers.

"Do you like fossils?" Jura asked Erza and Kagura, hoping to make small talk before the time for it passed.

"I know I'm not Wendy and I can't cast Troia, but…" Lucy sighed and started to rub Natsu's back, hoping to act as a temporary alleviator for his motion sickness.

"Lucy, you're a lifesaver…" Natsu wheezed gratefully.


	15. Battle of Earth Geon VS Jura

**Here we go with chapter 15! This seemed like another good battle idea and it just so happened to have randomly popped into my mind!**

 **Carla: (clapping)**

 **Happy: Yay!**

 **Erza: (reading a magazine) Hm.** _ **Sorcerer Weekly**_ **gave Jura a score of 0 out of 5 for hair. How amusing.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 15: Battle of Earth; Geon VS Jura**

As the cart made of earth sped along, a stone spike shot out of the ground beneath it and sent it flying. Happy sprouted his wings and caught Natsu. Carla made a move to catch Wendy, but then remembered that Wendy wasn't among them. Disheartened for a brief moment, she snapped out of it and caught Lucy. She wasn't used to carrying someone larger than Wendy and—on account of that—almost blurted out that she found Lucy to be heavy. Fortunately, she stopped herself.

Erza, Kagura, and Jura landed on their feet. Gray and Lyon made a cushion of shaved ice for themselves and Juvia landed on top of them. Millianna was sent flying and tried to land on her feet, much like a cat. Risley jumped and ran along the wall at the last second. Gajeel ate dirt—literally. Evidently, there was a collection of iron composites sprinkled in the stone floor. Lucky lifted Elfman and safely landed with him. Pantherlily went into his combat mode, flew up, and drew his sword. Crimson and Garnet hid behind him.

"What the heck was that?!" Gray growled.

"A fellow earth magic user, I'm sure," Jura answered with narrowed eyes. He looked around to make sure everyone was alright when he noticed that Sherry, Toby, and Yuka were absent. "What happened to Toby-dono, Yuka-dono, and Sherry-dono?!"

"They got separated from us a while back," Lyon answered nonchalantly.

"And you're only telling me now?!"

"A good moment never came up."

"Well, well, well. This is a treat," a heinous voice said ominously. Everyone looked around, trying to find the voice's source. In the middle of everyone, a figure began to rise from the stone.

"Egad, it looks like something Evergreen petrified is reversing the process!" Elfman bellowed. "How dare someone disgrace that beautiful, manly process?!"

"If it couldn't be reversed, some of us here would still be stone," Erza pointed out.

"I'm Geon, a former apprentice of one of the Element Four," the figure introduced itself. It was deemed male, as the voice was somewhat masculine, which was enough to discern a gender. Gajeel and Juvia let out a gasp.

"You were in Phantom?" Gajeel demanded. "Why the heck don't I remember you?!"

"Juvia vaguely remembers him. He's Sol's old apprentice!" Juvia realized, finally recalling the strange young man. When Geon fully emerged, he was a bit on the short side. He wore an orange suit like Sol, but his hair was a chestnut color and he didn't wear a monocle. His dark eyes held a challenged gleam, like he was ready to move mountains.

"I've surpassed Master Sol now. I've surpassed the Rain Woman, surely I have! I'm confident I've surpassed even Black Steel Gajeel and maybe even Master Jose!" Geon boasted.

"We'll see about that! Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel turned his fist into an iron club and sent it at Geon. Jura caught it in a single palm. "What the…?! Out of the way, baldy!"

"Don't let him bait you. I'd like to be the one to take him on," Jura advised and faced Geon. "You're skills may be needed elsewhere."

"I'm not going to let anyone escape in my element!" Geon assured and tried to seal the continuing path. Jura instantly demolished the blockade with a rock fist that sprang from the ground.

"Go!" Jura ordered, letting the rest of the group go on ahead. He faced Geon once more, saying, "So you think you've surpassed Jose Porla, a former Wizard Saint."

"Yep!" Geon crossed his arms and replied smugly.

"What's a boy like you doing here?" Jura interrogated.

"With Phantom Lord disbanded, I had to find work elsewhere. I tried taking jobs at a bunch of guilds, but they all were wary of me in light of recent events. Even dark guilds turned me away or tried to kill me. At least they did before I demolished them. So I set out to find a guild that would take me. And Master Tiran came along. Master Tiran is on a whole other level, man," Geon explained darkly. "I bet he could even go toe-to-toe with the Four Gods of Ishgar."

"Be that as it may, you said _you_ have surpassed a former Wizard Saint. As one of the Ten Wizard Saints, I'd like to be the judge of that," Jura challenged.

"Alright," Geon obliged with a grin. "Bring it on."

"I intend to," Jura promised and took on a fighting stance. "Geon-dono, I hope you're ready for the fight of your life."

"I'm sick of talking. Sandstone Knives!" Geon turned the ground beneath him to soft, loose sand. Then, the sand sprang up into the air and hardened into forty razor sharp daggers made of sandstone. The daggers flew at Jura faster than the untrained eye could see.

"Iron Rock Wall!" Jura summoned a rock wall that shattered the knives when they collided with it. "Is that the best you can do? Please show me your very best effort."

"Shut up, old man," Geon spat. "I'm just getting warmed up." He took on a stance and created harder stone daggers, sending them toward Jura, who brilliantly dodged every one and launched himself upwards with a rising rock platform. "Gah! Alright, try this! Continental Sword Attack!" Sharp spikes of rock sprang up at Jura, but Jura used his earth-oriented magic power to counteract the pointed pillars and shatter them as they came. Jura landed, now inches from the young man. Geon, in shock, jumped backwards and tried to prepare himself.

"I assure you that I am no pushover. I intend to bring you the fight that you claim to deserve," Jura assured. _Phantom Lord was dissolved seven years ago. Just how long as this Master Tiran of theirs been in action?_

"I-I won't back down! You've yet to see my toughest spell!" Geon tried to remain calm. He roughly bit into his thumb, breaking the skin, and swiftly wrote out an intricate symbol on the ground in blood. With an open palm, he conveyed his magic power into the symbol. The earth around the symbol became lucid and began to rise up as he had during his introduction.

"A summoning?" Jura gasped and gritted his teeth. "I'll admit that is impressive. Perhaps you have surpassed Sol of the Land, but I'm only basing that assumption off of what I've heard about him."

"Allow me to introduce you to this golem!" Geon laughed. "That sounded a lot better in my head…"

The golem made an advance towards Jura, but Jura's Rock Mountain spell, which was more of a Rock Warrior spell, blocked the attack. As the unnamed golem's fist collided with the armor of Rock Mountain, a shockwave was released. Geon skidded back and barely kept his balance, but Jura, like his Rock Mountain, didn't give an inch.

"Geon-dono, you gave an excellent effort, but I'm afraid I don't have the time to dawdle," Jura announced to his opponent.

"I-I won't give in! I'll keep pushing! I'll show you what I'm really made of!" Geon screamed and the golem kept trying to break Rock Mountain's defenses. Jura was shocked. He watched as the golem—an extension of Geon's will—continued to try to get past the stone warrior. Needless to say, the Wizard Saint was impressed at the young man's patience and persistence.

"You're doing well," Jura spoke, surprising both Geon and himself. "You have incredible raw talent. If you keep working hard as you are now and hone your skills to even greater heights, you will become an unmovable, unstoppable mountain. You will be a wall that your opponents will panic over in an effort to crack you. I'm sure of it. I'm positive of this fact."

"…Why do you believe in me? Why?! I'm your enemy!" Geon demanded. His golem hit Rock Mountain as hard as it could, but the immovable rock formation didn't budge and the golem's arm shattered. The shock of the impact surged and shook its entire body, causing it to stumble.

"You're a fellow earth wizard and a youngling who needs to be honed and nurtured," Jura explained.

"I am nothing to you!" Geon growled. The golem swung its remaining arm, hit Rock Mountain, and collapsed. Then, it started to reform. "I'm not your pal. I'll defeat you. I have to do whatever I can!"

"I recommend you leave. We're not going to stop until Cursed Fang is dead. I regret to inform you that this guild isn't the one you've been searching for," Jura explained.

"If I can't win, I'll take you down with me!" Geon snarled. The reformed golem glowed and surged with intense energy. "Geothermal Blast!"

"Talus!" Jura cast a spell to encase the bound-to-explode golem. He normally used Talus for personal defense, but the circumstances here were different. If he didn't do something to contain the explosion, the entire corridor could have collapsed on them. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?! You'd be caught up in a cave-in!" The Talus exploded. There was no evident damage to the tunnel, but large stones flew everywhere. Some were part of the golem. Some were part of the Talus.

"Don't mess with me…" Geon panted.

"You're stubborn. I know it won't do much good at this point, but I'll say it again. Please leave here peacefully while you have a chance," Jura implored.

"I will not! I won't submit! I—" Geon suddenly found himself encased in rock.

"If you won't leave, then you stay. It's as simple as that," Jura told him. Rock Mountain disappeared back into the earth. As it vanished, the Wizard Saint said, "Thank you, old friend."

Geon managed to get himself out of the rock confinement with his own earth magic. He scrambled to Jura in an effort to punch him, but ultimately was flipped onto the ground. Jura simply sighed and tried to move forward as Geon let out a frustrated cry. The young earth mage asked, "Are you really going to end Cursed Fang?! Do you really think you can win?!"

"…Whether or not I or another will be tasked with fighting your master, Cursed Fang's new world dream will be stopped in its radical tracks by the Allies' hand. The tyranny will end before it begins. I entrust my comrades with the task as I'll try to catch up. After all, I'm blessed to be aligned with such fine young wizards," Jura answered.

"Say, old man, how old are you anyway?" Geon asked, forgetting mannerisms and to whom he was speaking.

"…I'm 34," Jura replied before moving onward.


	16. Erza and Kagura VS Strike

**Here's a chapter I've been wanting to write since the beginning of the story. It's not quite as long as I wanted, but I've packed a fair amount of action into this, especially considering out fast-paced the battle was meant to be.**

 **Happy: Aye!**

 **Carla: It was an essential chapter.**

 **Happy: Aye!**

 **Crimson: Crimson is cool and Happy drools!**

 **Happy: A—wait a fishing minute!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 16: Erza and Kagura VS Strike**

Dashing down the hall, Crimson guided the group down a long flight of stairs. Down, down, down they went, until Erza stopped short, grabbed Crimson's tail, and halted everyone else. Spikes started shooting out of the walls in front of them. The red cat whimpered, "I don't remember that being there!"

"Neither do I," Happy added.

"You've never been here, Happy," Carla reminded him. She carefully observed his cute, seemingly infinite smile, admiring its curvature. She always thought, even back when she wasn't interested in him, that he had a great smile that had the power to melt hearts.

"Hey! It's rude to try to skewer people who are trying to use the stairs! Just who do these screw-heads think they are?!" Natsu ranted angrily, insulted by the fact that the hideout had traps and defense mechanisms. Oy…

"Uh… Natsu, you can't really blame them for wanting to protect this place. It's their base of operations," Lucy pointed out, trying to reason with him.

"That just makes them more annoying!" Natsu continued to rant, beginning to spew fire. "The screw-headed chuckle nuggets! I'll burn them all to a crisp!"

"What the heck is a screw-headed chuckle nugget?" Gray thought to ask, and then instantly regretted it.

"Well, you see, Gray, us sophisticates define a screw-headed chuckle nugget as someone who—" Natsu began to explain.

Gray punched Natsu in the face, sending him tumbling down the stairs. "You're not sophisticated!"

"Gray, no!" Lucy screamed. Thinking quickly, she brandished her whip and lassoed Natsu's leg with it just before he could hit the spikes. Then, she slapped Gray in the face, shouting, "You idiot! You could have killed him!"

"Gray-sama is not an idiot, you blonde bimbo!" Juvia slapped Lucy, causing her and Natsu to proceed in falling down the stairs. Erza grabbed both of them and shot a glare at Juvia.

"Cease this senseless fighting!" Carla shouted, beginning to get a headache from the bickering.

"You're a pretty kitty!" Millianna fawned over Pantherlily, hugging the adult black Exceed to her chest.

"I'm still flattered, but I'm married!" Pantherlily said again, blushing.

"One day, you'll find a cat of your own, Millianna," Risley assured, though it was more like a prayer in her mind.

"I like this one! He's so cute and muscular!" Millianna swooned.

"One day, she's going to marry one of those cats," Kagura sighed, predicting from current data.

"That'd be an interesting wedding," Erza pondered the thought.

"…So, how's Jellal?" Kagura suddenly asked, her tone getting darker.

"You still bear some ill will towards him?" Erza countered the question with another.

"I'm still trying to feel that out," Kagura confessed.

Just then, the stairs turned into a slide. Gray and Lyon thought fast. "Ice Make: Net!" A net made of ice appeared and held most of the group, save for Kagura, Erza, Natsu, Happy, Carla, Lucy, Crimson, and Garnet.

The eight who weren't fortunate enough to get caught in the ice net slid the rest of the way down the former staircase. Erza and Kagura cut apart the spikes as they burst from the walls. They all landed with a thud. Lucy muttered, "Why didn't the four of us who are Exceeds think to fly down and break our fall?"

"It all happened so fast," Garnet reported dizzily. He looked around for his little brother, only to find him on Lucy's chest, sleeping. "Crim? Little Bro?"

"I need a nap…" Crimson said in his sleep. "Miss Lucy is so comfy…"

"I'll…take that as a compliment," Lucy reported awkwardly.

"Is he looking for a fight?!" Natsu seethed jealously.

"How does he get on so many girls' good side? Is it that little fang of his?" Happy asked, knowing he wouldn't receive a definite answer.

"We tried rehabilitating him on Mom and Sal's honeymoon. He's a lot better than he used to be," Garnet said in attempted assurance.

Suddenly, a shuriken flew at Garnet, but Erza summoned a sword and deflected it. She bellowed, "Strike! Come out!" By the command of his enemy and for his own amusement, the ninja wizard emerged from the shadows, his face mostly hidden, save for his blood red eyes.

"So we meet again," Kagura growled, tensely gripping her sheathed Archenemy.

"Kagura Mikazuchi… Erza Scarlet… my two favorite former opponents," Strike commented amusedly, "bearing both brute strength and irresistible elegance. Welcome to our arena. Who shall I take on first?"

"No need to choose. We'll both take you on at the same time," Kagura informed the Cursed Fang elite coldly.

"Ooh! That really gets my blood flowing," Strike said, his raspy voice holding a hint of enthusiasm. With a kunai in each hand, Strike vanished and reappeared in front of the two young swordswomen. He tried to slash at them, but they both jumped back to dodge. He threw a kunai at Erza, who summoned a spear and deflected it. Then, the redheaded mage ran forward, spinning the spear and ready to attack Strike with the blade. Strike tried to move away, but Kagura's gravity magic held him in place. Erza struck, sending the ninja flying.

"Had enough?" Erza asked, switching out her spear for twin swords. Strike caught himself and launched himself at Kagura, who deflected his advances with her Archenemy. Erza shrugged, "I guess not. Lucy, Natsu, take the cats and run! Go!"

"I believe in you, Erza!" Lucy called back as Natsu led her and the Exceeds away from the fight.

"Thank you. That's all I needed to hear," Erza said with a smile as her friends trailed off. She rushed forward to aid Kagura. Strike sent kunai, shuriken, and other small weapons flying at them every chance he had. Erza and Kagura needed to heighten their concentration to stay alive. Sustaining a few cuts, they kept on fighting.

"You can't beat me. I will not allow it!" Strike hissed and threw a smoke bomb. He silently rushed forward and kicked Kagura back into Erza, and then set a spark, blowing up his evidently flammable smokescreen.

"Strike!" Erza yelled out as she caught Kagura, skidding back and grinding up the stone floor. "Tell me what it is that you dislike about the world! What did Tiran promise you?!"

"…He promised me the chance to train like no tomorrow and face off with the greatest weapon-users. And he's living up to his promise," Strike replied, vanishing and then reappearing behind the two young women. Kagura reached behind her and deflected the advance with the sheath of Archenemy.

"If that's it, then you're just as much of a selfish tyrant as him!" Erza swung around, wielding a giant sword, and slashed at Strike. The Cursed Fang ninja dodged and threw bombs at them. "I'll only say it once. Surrender!"

"I think not," Strike rasped and sprang forward.

"Erza, I have a plan," Kagura stated, taking on a fighting stance. "I need you to get ready for an all-out blitz."

"Leave it to me," Erza assured. "Requip!" Utilizing Requip, she switched out of her armor and into her flame patterned pants and chest bandages, wielding the Fairy Katana, a gift from Master Mavis. The Fairy Katana was in intricate sword. The blade was in the elongated form of Fairy Tail's insignia, and the handle was dark red. Its power was considered to be on par with the Three Great Fairy Spells.

"Now!" Kagura shouted out, forcing Strike back and then weighing him down with her gravity magic.

"Strike, you've mocked Fairy Tail and other guilds. Your desire for improvement takes on an exceptionally selfish nature. Rather than building off of and working with others, you want to trample on them. That's not how this world works!" Erza informed the ninja wizard. Golden light enveloped her. She held the blade, ready to attack. Wings of golden light emerged from her back, and the blade of the Fairy Katana shined like the sun.

"I'm ready for it this time!" Strike assured. Illusionary copies of him appeared. "Try to find the real me!"

"Great Fairy…" Erza prepared to swing her sword. "…SLAAAAASH!" With one swing of her sword, bright light that held the sharpness of a scalpel sliced through all of the copies and the original Strike. A large shockwave reverberated throughout the hideout.

"Was that her power…? Or the sword's…?" Kagura asked as she—yes, she, the great Kagura Mikazuchi—trembled, feeling the power of the attack surged throughout the room in an aftershock.

"…It was both. This blade is an extension of Fairy Tail's will, and my will is Fairy Tail's," Erza answered, admiring the dazzling gleam of the blade as it sparkled, almost as though it were emanating fairy dust.

"Erza, that was amazing," Kagura reluctantly oozed at Erza's grace and power.

"Impossible…" Strike wheezed on the ground. "How…? With all of my training and strategizing… And all I could do was keep you at bay?"

"Mm, yep," Erza answered bluntly. "So, where's the fridge in this joint?"

"Why do you ask that?" Strike rasped, giving Erza a bizarre look.

With a mischievous smirk, the swordswomen answered, "I need to make sure your cake is legal."

Meanwhile, in the Guild Master's chamber, Master Tiran was meditating when he felt the shockwave of Erza's attack reverberate throughout the hideout. The masked man lifted his head and let out an amused chuckle. He sighed and said, "It seems Fairy Tail, among the other Allied Forces, has decided to reject my new world once again. And the strength of their refusal is loud and clear. They're quite an interesting set of guilds." Alistair Bane was in the doorway, ready to take an order at any time. Tiran resumed his meditation, but not before saying, "Bane, give the remaining cavalry a warm welcome when they arrive."

"Warmth is Hino's specialty, but I'll give it my best shot, Master Tiran," Alistair assured and bowed politely.


	17. Storm of the Wicked

**Happy Wednesday, everybody! Wednesdays are an interesting day because that's the day when people are most glass-half-full or glass-half-empty about the week. I think it has a way of bringing out people's true colors. Even a bad Wednesday has some magic in it!**

 **Azure: (riding a camel)**

 **Levy: Should I hang the streamers along the top of the wall or going down the wall?**

 **Natsu: We're having a Wednesday party!**

 **Carla: Oh, good grief…**

 **Myo: Aye!**

 **Enjoy the Wednesday—I mean chapter!**

 **Chapter 17: Storm of the Wicked**

Lucy, Natsu, and the Exceeds stormed down the hall. The path seemed straightforward at this point, so there was no point in stopping to over think the labyrinth's layout. Natsu glanced back at Crimson and asked, "That jerk Tiran is down this hall, right?"

"I think so," Crimson replied and nodded. The reply in its base context was usually hesitant or slightly uncertain, but in Crimson's voice was nothing but fierce confidence.

"Alright. We'd better get a move on before some other creep shows up!" Lucy pointed out, giving everyone a good reason to run or fly faster. They sped up and ran straight into a giant, rectangular room. It looked like it was an underground arena. Quite frankly, it _was_ an underground arena that looked like it had been weathered away for a long time until it became what it was then and there.

"Whoa! What is this place?" Garnet gasped in awe at the immenseness.

"It's the training room. A couple of earth wizards started building it, then Alistair not only smoothened it out, but he made it even bigger," Crimson explained.

"Alistair? Oh! That guy with the umbrella and the yellow coat! I remember him! He seemed way too personable and snotty to be in this dump. I thought he was some high class rich guy like Lucy," Natsu voiced his opinion based on past encounters with Alistair Bane.

"Don't compare me to him!" Lucy scolded.

"Yeah, Lucy's way hotter! I wanna jump into her arms and sing the national anthem!" Crimson added defensively, which perturbed Lucy a bit.

"You little womanizer!" Garnet growled and started chasing Crimson around the large room.

"Tomcats will be tomcats," Carla could only sigh at the behavior.

"Some jazz music would go nicely with this right about now," Happy commented randomly. After giving that a bit of thought, Carla gave him a nod of approval.

"Someone's coming," Natsu alerted everyone. Crimson and Garnet stopped running around the large room. All was quiet. All but the sound of footsteps gradually getting louder as whoever owned them drew closer. Into the room came the calm, cool, collected elite wizard Alistair Bane. He donned his usual yellow trench coat and top hat, out from the bottom of which fell a long dark braid. He hadn't shaved his mustache (maybe he trimmed it if that was even a thing) since he last encountered Fairy Tail. His eyes still weren't a set color. They changed like the weather forecast.

"Greetings, intruders. Would you like a cup of tea? Perhaps a biscuit?" Alistair offered, seemingly genuine.

"That'd be great! Thanks!" Natsu was clearly eager for food.

"No!" Lucy pulled him back by his scarf, afraid that the coated man would poison her beloved Dragon Slayer.

"But Lucy, food tastes better when it's free! That's why dinner at your place tastes so good!" Natsu whined and tried to reason with her.

"Do you have fish?" Happy asked.

"Happy, focus!" Carla scolded.

"Aye, sir!"

"Perhaps I should be a little more upfront," Alistair contemplated, lightly tapping his umbrella on the stone floor. "I'd rather not send you to the tempests that are the bowels of hell too quickly. No, no, that'd be messy. Still, I can't let you leave here alive. Especially you, Crimson." The small red cat let out a fearful gulping sound at the mentioning of his name. He knew what Alistair was capable of.

"Shut up! I won't let you threaten my little brother! You're the one who's going to see the bowels of h—" Garnet shouted out in defiance, desiring to protect his little brother, but a strong gust threw him back into the farthest wall.

"Brother!" Crimson cried out.

"That's fighting dirty!" Natsu growled with a clenched fist. "He wasn't even ready to take you on!"

"He sounded like it," Alistair countered with a smirk.

Natsu tried to advance to fight him, but Lucy stepped in front of the pink haired Dragon Slayer. She muttered to him, "Don't. Of the two of us, you'd probably have a better chance of taking down their master than I do. That's why I don't want you to waste your time or magic power. Go on ahead. I'll catch up."

"What?! No way! Lucy, I won't leave you here with this creep!" Natsu refused.

"I'm right here, you know," Alistair reminded him.

"Not now; we're in the middle of something!" Natsu cut the weatherman off and turned back to Lucy. "Lucy, I don't want to leave you alone. Let me fight with you!"

"We're not down in this place for my sake or for your comfort! We're here for the sake of the world! And for your sake, I'm taking this battle on my shoulders! Don't you trust me?" Lucy yelled, tears forming. She was afraid she would lose him to Tiran, which was why she wanted him to be in peak condition so badly.

"Of course I do," Natsu finally replied after a pause. To both of their surprises, he gave her a peck on the cheek before he grabbed Happy and made a break for it. "Love you, Lucy! You're the best! Don't you die on me!"

"Y-yeah, same to you!" Lucy called back, her face as red as Erza's hair.

"I won't let you pass," Alistair insisted and pulled on his umbrella handle, drawing a sword from the umbrella. He was about to make a slash at Natsu's neck, but suddenly his arm was being held back. It was a whip, and its wielder was Lucy, of course.

"I'm your opponent," Lucy informed him. "I'll do whatever it takes to help Natsu. He's done so much for me! It's because of him that I am where I am! It's because of him that my dreams have been coming true left and right! It's because of Natsu that I have the courage to stand and face you! Don't you get it? He's done too much for me to let him down now!"

Throughout her speech, Lucy's magic power was growing more and more prominent. Alistair was shocked. He gasped, "How much power do you have?"

"As much as I need!" Lucy yelled out as she drew back her whip before lashing him. He blocked the whip with his sword, but was unable to stop her from pulling out a Zodiac key.

 _Attacking me with the whip was merely a distraction so she could have time to draw one of her keys! And I fell for it! How sloppy of me…_ Alistair mentally scolded himself.

"Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Lucy summoned Taurus with the Celestial Spirit's respective key.

"Moo! What's going on, Miss Lucy?" Taurus mooed flirtatiously.

"This guy?" Carla sighed, finding Taurus' flirtatious decorum appalling. She had to admit, though, that Taurus was a major power house.

"Taurus, we're in a huge fight right now. Be careful. This guy is a lot stronger than he looks!" Lucy advised, informing the Golden Bull of the situation.

"I gotcha. Don't you worry, Miss Lucy! Moo!" Taurus charged, swinging his mighty axe. The giant axe met Alistair's blade. Sparks flew wildly from the impact, and the shockwave caused Lucy to skid back and the Exceeds to get sent flying.

"Now! Heaven's Strike: Divine Thunder!" Alistair called upon a spell. Thunderclouds formed overhead. Alistair jumped up as lightning struck his sword. The lightning bolt now seemed to be an extension of the sword as he brought it down onto Taurus. Taurus blocked with his axe, but the impact was so great even he was sent flying. The bovine barely managed to catch himself.

"Oh, man! I didn't know he was that powerful," Lucy gasped with wide eyes. "He even caused Taurus to step back…!"

"Even a gentleman needs the heart of a warrior, my dear," Alistair lectured as he swung his sword. The swiping swing created a blade of air that launched itself at Lucy. Lucy tucked and rolled in response, barely able to dodge in time.

Just then, part of a nearby wall collapsed and a huge hole was created. Erza came skidding out of it with a sword drawn. Carla and Lucy cried out, "Erza?!"

"Lucy? Carla? What are you doing here?" Erza asked them.

"Never mind that! What are _you_ doing here?!" the pink-marked girls asked simultaneously.

"Well, I was checking to make sure their cake was legal, but then the one that I thought I had defeated tried to attack me from behind," Erza explained, her guard up high.

Strike emerged from the hole. Alistair cried out in mock relief, "Strike, am I glad to see you in one piece!"

"Bane? Has the kitchen always been next to the training room?" Strike asked. "We should have put a door here!"

Carla stood there, watching. She thought of Happy. She thought of how he bravely fought against Tiran the last time they fought Cursed Fang. She figured he would fight again. She was tired of watching. She wanted to fight. For Happy. For Wendy. For her mother. For her half-brother and Pantherlily. For the world whose light had enchanted her. Off to her right was a rack of swords. She had never used a sword before, save for that time in Edolas when Shagotte had given her a sword to punish the queen for her deceit. Somehow, though, she felt like she could handle it. Thus, Carla lunged for the rack and ripped a sword off of it.

"Cat?" Alistair and Strike said in unison.

"Carla?" Lucy gasped, never seeing Carla make a move so sudden and unexpected before.

"Miss Shagotte told me that Carla's late father, King Cedric, was a competent swordsman in his lifetime. I have a good feeling about this," Erza stated with a smirk.

"One and all, the Exceeds have fallen for this world, the world that I and 99 other Exceeds grew up in. I'm sure its light and utter beauty had captivated them as it had me, but it captivated me not more so than that silly blue tomcat," the white cat said with a smile. "Such a heavenly shade of blue, he is. Bold, bright, and cool and warm all at once. It's a cute, yet noble blue. I want to fight for him. For my guild. For everyone! I love this world, and I will not let you take it away from me! My home will never be taken from me again!"


	18. Stand Against the Elites

**Here's chapter 18. I think these fight scenes are getting better as I go along, but maybe that's just me being optimistic. I guess that's for you all to decide. Be advised, there is a fourth wall break in here. I've been meaning to write in one of those since the beginning of the story, but the moment never seemed quite right.**

 **Happy: Aye! For those of you who have never seen the fourth wall being broken, it's something where the story sort of interacts with itself and acknowledges that it's a story rather than its own fantasized reality. Wow, that's a lot of big words!**

 **Carla: I believe that some good examples are characters interacting with the audience, narrator or author of a story or series or referring to an event or occurrence by its episode or chapter. For those of you who watched the earliest** _ **Pokémon**_ **anime seasons at all—which Pokémon Ranger-Trainer here does not own the rights to—you may have noticed such things occurring with Team Rocket's dialogue.**

 **Happy: Lisanna broke the fourth wall of our respective manga when she pointed out how similar her design was with Yukino's and asked for a little variation in character design in Chapter 338.**

 **But probably none of you care about that stuff. If you read all of that, thanks for reading it! You're either patient or curious, both of which I can respect. Without further ado, enjoy!**

 **Chapter 18: Stand Against the Elites**

"My home will never be taken from me again!" Carla vowed as she brandished the sword she had snatched from the wall. "Lucy, Erza, let's stop these hooligans in their tracks right now!"

"Someone's fired up," Lucy commented with a wide grin.

"Three against two doesn't seem fair, but neither does a cake-related sneak attack. For that, I'll punish them," Erza promised with a fierce look in her eyes.

"The average gentleman would be against hitting a woman. However, being an above-average gentleman, I view that as discrimination against women. As fellow sentient beings, they should be viewed as something residing somewhere in the ballpark of equals, divided only by skill," Alistair claimed as he tipped his top hat. "That's why I eagerly look for the chance to let loose and give you three the battle you deserve. I can only hope you reciprocate."

"Oh, don't worry. If Erza Scarlet is involved, you'll get your fight," Strike assured, knowing from personal experience.

"Let's go!" Lucy shouted as the three Fairy Tail wizards rushed forward.

"Requip! Flight Armor!" Erza used her magic and switched to her speedy Flight Armor. She launched herself at Alistair like a cannon ball and attempted to rush him with her sword, but Strike intercepted her as fast as she had advanced. The ninja wizard of Cursed Fang had blocked the sword with a kunai. Alistair jumped up and brought his sword down onto Erza, but the redhead summoned a second sword in the nick of time and parried the attack.

"Take this! Fleuve D'étoiles!" Lucy shouted at Alistair and activated the magic whip. She swung it at the weather mage, who blocked with his sword. What he hadn't expected was a white molly running along the whip and swinging a sword at him. Creating a burst of wind, he blew himself backwards to avoid the attack.

"I commend you on your teamwork," Alistair complimented when he finally noticed something he found peculiar. Taurus was nowhere in sight. The Celestial bovine had vanished. _That's it! When Titania and Strike came out of that hole, she must have used the confusion to send her Spirit back!_

"Blast! The attack failed… His reflexes are impressive," Carla analyzed. She felt Lucy's whip coil around her and pull her back as Strike struck the ground with a hand, creating a small crater.

Erza summoned a spear and swung it at Strike, who dodged it and tried to catch her arm with metal wire. Carla used Strike's focus on Erza as an opening and kicked him in the face. However, Alistair used her focus on Strike as an opening and advanced toward her. Lucy swiftly pulled out a gold key and called out, "Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!" Out of yellow light came the horse-headed archer.

"Moshi-moshi! Hello to all the wonderful readers!" Sagittarius greeted openly with a proud salute.

"I think you just broke the fourth wall…" Lucy sighed. "Please, I need your help."

"Say no more!" Sagittarius neighed confidently and fired an arrow at Alistair before he could get to Carla.

Alistair used a blade of wind to slice the arrow, and that gave Lucy the opening she needed. She launched herself into the air and brought her foot down onto Alistair's face. "Lucy Kick!" The kick caused the man to stagger back, holding his now-broken nose in his free hand.

"What incredible feet!" Alistair exclaimed. "I clearly can't hold back now! Thanks for the warm up, though it did cost me more than I anticipated. Now…from the side, Crushing Hail!" Strike suddenly vanished as large chunks of ice came from a cloud off to the girls' left. The barrage of unwanted frozen precipitation had to be deflected by the swords and whip that the girls wielded. Unfortunately, due to the sheer multitude of ice, some hail got through and pelted them.

"This is…too much!" Carla cried out, getting especially beaten up by the ice. Lucy scooped her up in one arm and protectively held her. "I'm sorry… I have more fight in me…"

"Don't sweat it. You were doing pretty well for someone who's never used a sword before," Lucy complimented, causing Carla to blush and smile.

"This hail is nothing. Gray's ice is far colder than this, and I've withstood that ice for years now!" Erza taunted and switched to her Flame Empress Armor, melting the hail as it came and evaporating the cloud.

Crimson was watching the fight as he tended to his older brother, and he couldn't believe how intense it was getting. The little red cat trembled as he said, "Now do you see why women are a treasure?"

"Kid, I've always known… I've just never really opened up much to one," Garnet claimed dizzily. "Ow… What's this wall made out of? Stone?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, right. Duh. Wow, I really did hit my head pretty hard!"

Alistair changed his stance and a magic circle appeared before him. He called out his next move: "Go, Shredding Sand!"

Lucy pulled out Scorpio's key and summoned him. "Open, Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!"

"We are going to win this!" Scorpio exclaimed, making it obvious how pumped up to fight he was. "Your puny sandstorm is no match for our Sand Buster!" His cannon tail fired a blast of sand at Alistair's sandstorm attack, colliding with it and neutralizing it.

"Now, Sagittarius!" Lucy commanded. Sagittarius fired an arrow at Alistair, but Strike suddenly reappeared and blocked it with a kunai. He then threw the kunai at the centaur, but Lucy utilized her whip to knock it off its course.

"I'll start pulling out the stops, too," Strike rasped. Several shuriken appeared and floated around him, slowly taking on a globe formation with their remote wielder as the globe's core. "Shuriken Storm!" The throwing stars launched themselves at Erza, Lucy, and Carla, but Lucy, with her whip and her two summoned Zodiac Spirits, started to deflect the onslaught.

Carla flew out to the left from behind Lucy. Erza, in her Black Wing Armor, flew out to the right behind Lucy. They both launched themselves at Alistair, who seemed to have been gradually growing sluggish.

"Your time is up!" Erza threatened as she swung her sword. Alistair blocked with his own sword.

"There are two swordswomen present!" Carla remained as she jabbed at Alistair, who blocked with his scabbard umbrella.

"I'm growing weary of you," the weather wielder announced as he forced the two back. "And there's nothing I love more than raining a parade. Now… Heaven's Surge: Divine Shower!" Dark clouds formed overhead. It suddenly rained sheets. Electricity surged through the clouds ominously.

Erza barely had time to use the Requip and switch into her Lightning Empress Armor when a ferocious lightning bolt came down upon her. She barely redirected it with her spear, sending it at the wall. It tore up the wall it had made contact with.

"In this rain, I can summon Aquarius and—" Lucy started to suggest.

"No, Lucy!" Erza cut her off. "I just felt that lightning when I redirected it. I'd say it's comparable to Laxus' lightning. If we add even more water, it would only be disastrous for us."

"In that case, what do you suggest we do about this rain?" Carla asked desperately as she crossed swords with Alistair.

"Yeah. It's weighing down our Sand Buster," Scorpio informed Lucy.

"In that case, I think you should head back. I don't want you to waste your strength," Lucy suggested. "Close, Gate of the Scorpion." With that, Scorpio crossed back through the gate. Now only Sagittarius was with her. At least one hundred shuriken—probably more—littered the ground in front of them.

"I'll enjoy killing you," Strike assured with his raspy voice.

"You're not too shabby at swordplay," Alistair complimented Carla as he made a jab at her.

Carla parried and replied, "Thank you. I almost feel as though I'm being guided through it. Maybe it's just a survival instinct. Either way, I can't afford to lose!" With that, she lunged forward, dodging a lightning bolt, and swiped at Alistair with the blade.

Erza wanted to move forward and help either one or both of her friends, but a majority of the lightning bolts seemed to descend in her direction. She started to draw conclusions as she fended off the bolts. _This thundershower must be under Bane's full control. He wants to keep me at bay to even out the odds. I can try to blitz him to end the storm, and then go for Strike once I take him out. However, something tells me that I'll be fried at best if I make one false move, rendering me useless to Lucy and Carla. Can I afford to take the risk?_

Alistair jabbed at Carla, but she narrowly dodged the saber and was able to cut the man in his side. Coolly, she said, "As a young lady, being capable of self defense is a priority for me."

"You're a clever little feline, but that won't save you…" Alistair seethed.

Concurrently, Lucy had Sagittarius use his archery skills to create an opening for her while facing off with Strike. Sagittarius jumped up and fired an arrow at Strike, who blocked with a raised kunai as Lucy predicted. She used that chance to deliver a Lucy Kick to his solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him.

Alistair saw this as he held his side with his free hand. "Strike!" He focused the thunderstorm on Lucy, but Erza used her spear as a lightning rod and redirected the lightning through her armor.

"It's time for my trump card: the Urano Metria!" Lucy decided and started to chant the incantation. "Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens…"

"Oh, no…" Alistair said dreadfully and amplified the lightning, but Erza did not allow any bolts to strike Lucy. One almost hit Carla, but the white cat jumped out of the way in time.

"All the stars, far and wide… Show me thy appearance… With such shine," Lucy continued the incantation. "Oh Tetrabiblos… I am the ruler of the stars… Aspect become complete… Open thy malevolent gate. Oh 88 Stars of the heavens… Shine!"

Suddenly, everyone found himself or herself in a colorful space surrounded by planet-shaped spheres of Celestial magic. Strike finally managed to make sound. He rasped hoarsely, "A galaxy…?"

"So this…this is the Ultimate Magic of the Stars!" Alistair trembled in awe.

"Urano Metria!" Lucy unleashed the spell at full force. All of the gathered magic power came crashing down onto Strike and Alistair. Bright light filled the room. Carla ended up closing her eyes at the brightness.

 _Carla was standing in a vast, white space. Whiteness as far as she could see. Surveying the area, she turned around. There was a male Exceed with white fur and regal blue clothing. Carla identified him as an adult. He had a rather easygoing posture and a kind, gentle smile. Strapped to his waist was a sword in its sheath. What captivated her attention was his pair of brown eyes. They were the same shade of brown hers were._

" _I'm proud of you, Princess," the royally-dressed Exceed chuckled and bent down. He kissed Carla's forehead, and she instantly knew who he was._

" _Father?" Carla spoke up. The Exceed, evidently King Cedric, her late father, gave her a nod and turned around. He spread his wings and flew away, fading into the vast canvas of white. "Father! Father, wait! D-Daddy! Daddy, no! Come back!"_

Carla's eyes shot open and she surveyed the surroundings. She found herself lying on her back with four faces staring worriedly at her. Going clockwise from the face positioned adjacent to her ears, she identified them. Lucy. Garnet. Erza. Crimson.

"Are you okay, Carla?" Crimson asked.

"I hope I didn't hurt you," Lucy said worriedly.

"No, it is fine, Lucy. I don't recall being knocked out," Carla reassured her. Still, she had a hard time believing that she had fallen asleep in the middle of a restless battle. Had she been stunned by the light? Perhaps she would never know the answer. Subconsciously, her paws reached up and stroked her cheeks. They were wet. "Tears…?" She felt Lucy lift her up and hold her to her chest.

"Now, Natsu, Happy, the rest is up to you," Erza said, hoping that the Fire Dragon Slayer and the blue Exceed would prevail and, moreover, be alright.

Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy had finally reached the dark guild master's chamber. Tiran stood in the middle of the room with his back to the entrance. He called out, "Who goes there?"

"My name's Natsu Dragneel!" Natsu yelled.

"And I'm Happy!" Happy added.

"And we're here to put an end to your new world crap because the world is just fine the way it is!" Natsu concluded his introduction, fired up as usual.

Tiran whirled around and chuckled sinisterly. He said, "Somehow, I knew it'd be Fairy Tail wizards that I'd face off with! Well, then, you know who I am, so why not skip the pleasantries and get right down to business?" Tiran seemed confident and he radiated immense magic power.

"I'm all fired up now," Natsu let out a single snicker and said.

"Aye, sir!" Happy agreed as he was fired up, too.


	19. The Will to Fight

**Here is chapter 19. It's the nineteenth chapter and…yeah!**

 **Happy: One, two, one, two, yes! I'm leading exercises. Oh, good, you're finally done with the next chapter!**

 **Aye, sir!**

 **Happy: This is intense!**

 **I was having a little trouble with this one. I keep thinking the last one went so great, and as part of the final battle, this is supposed to be even more intense, but not so intense it brings us all the way to the climax.**

 **Myo: Mama, can I learn how to play piano?**

 **Shagotte: (chuckling) Of course, my kitten. It's a wonderful thing for a young man to learn.**

 **Where did you two come from?! Myo, you've come a long way in your speech! Good for you! So, here's something to help everyone enjoy their Friday, possibly Saturday or whatever day you read this. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 19: The Will to Fight**

Natsu and Happy were standing in Master Tiran's chamber, staring him down. The room wasn't very well lit, but they could feel him staring back at them intensely once he had turned to face them.

"Be careful, Natsu. He looks like a tough nut to crack," Happy advised.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Natsu assured and charged forward recklessly. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" With fists of flame, he threw a flurry of punches at Tiran, unbridled aggression in each wisp of fire. Tiran just kept dodging effortlessly.

"Is that all you've got?" Tiran asked. Happy had snuck up on him from behind and jumped to bite him in the neck, but the masked mage reach back and grabbed Happy's head, and then threw him at Natsu, knocking him back. "I expected more from you. Aren't you the one who defeated Hino? Not many have seen his highly advanced, yet terribly ancient Phoenix Style spells and lived. I was just about to commend you."

"Save it! Deep down, you're just a sadistic jerk who wants to be a god! You don't get to decide whether or not the world sucks!" Natsu snarled. "Fire Dragon Roar!" Spewing a stream of fire, Natsu was intent on bringing the madman down.

"I've decided what I'm going to do once I've killed you," Tiran spoke. "I'll paint these walls with your blood. And you, blue one, I think I will turn you into a pair of slippers."

"Keep your smelly feet out of my hide!" Happy growled and protested against the idea.

Natsu charged with fists of flame again. Tiran deftly brushed his attack off to the side, causing the Salamander to lose his balance.

"Hang on, Natsu!" Happy flew straight into Tiran, tackling him.

"Cosmic Radius!" Tiran called on a spell. Happy recalled Tiran's cosmic magic from when Cursed Fang brought the fight to Fairy Tail once before. He had called on a spell called Cosmic Avatar. It had immense attack and defense power, but Happy was able to pierce it with speed and the Shining Aera magic that was dormant inside him. A beam of cosmic energy punctured the floor deeply. Happy had barely dodged it. "You're agile. Any slower and you'd have a hole where your face is."

"Fire Dragon Flaming Elbow!" Natsu's elbow was enveloped in fire and he jammed it into Tiran's mask, cracking it. "I got you!"

"Now I'm obligated to commend you. Still, you won't crush my ambitions. I am here to save the world," Tiran assured.

"By killing it off?! We're talking about lives here! You're not saving anyone! You're killing people to pass the time! What the heck is wrong with you?!" Happy roared, tears forming. "I won't let you continue this! It's wrong! It's evil! Nothing's perfect, and if everything was perfect, that world would be boring! The beautiful light of this world is at its most divine when it's unattained! Why would anyone want to snuff it out?"

"That sounds like pure bias to me," Tiran replied. "You talk as though you are completely disregarding the darkness in this world. Where there is light, there is darkness. Where there is darkness, there is light. They go hand in hand. As long as the world continues to disregard this bond, it will spiral into chaos. Entropy will increase. Civilization will fall."

"That doesn't give you the right to decide who lives and who dies!" Natsu snarled. "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" He tossed a giant exploding fireball at Tiran, who shielded himself with his cloak.

"Nice try," Tiran commended.

"Take this!" Happy soared at Tiran and tackled him continuously, circling him around the room and into Natsu, who flipped him like a rag doll and spewed fire at him. The blue cat was eager as Natsu spit fire at the enemy. "Get him, Natsu! Let's finish this!"

Effortlessly breaking out of the flames, Tiran said, "Finish? I'm just getting started! Cosmic Radius!" He used that cosmic beam again, intending to drill through Natsu and Happy with it. Instead, he drilled straight through the wall with it.

"That was close!" Natsu seethed.

"His power's incredible!" Happy marveled. "What do we do?"

"Fight until he's throwing up in fear of us!" Natsu growled.

"That's a little graphic," Happy sighed and said flatly.

Tiran sent a blade of cosmic energy flying horizontally at them, which Happy jumped over and Natsu ducked under. They both darted forward and Happy threw his own flurry of punches at Tiran. He wasn't able to dodge all of them. Happy's fists were flying surprisingly fast.

"Nice job, Hap!" Natsu commended his feline friend. Natsu charged forward to join the fray. He jumped up and started spinning. "Fire Dragon…Spinning Talon!" With his right foot out and flames surrounding him, he struck Tiran like a flaming drill.

"Whoa! That's a new one!" Happy observed in awe. "I like it! You should write that down once this is all over."

"Yeah, you've got it!" Natsu promised as he jumped back. He drove Tiran back quite a few feet. He proceeded to slug Tiran, who ducked and tried to sweep him off his feet with a swift kick. The pink haired Fire Dragon Slayer jumped back. "Fire Dragon Roar!" He shot the flames at Tiran.

"I must say I find you amusing," Tiran admitted and dodged. "Try this on for size! Abyss Break!" Swiftly, he drew the intricate magic circle and the magical energy burst forward at Natsu. Happy swiftly shoved him out of the way as the hole Tiran had made earlier became even bigger.

"Oh, he's good," Happy marveled at the gaping hole in the wall and submitted to the obligation to commend the enemy on his power.

"You must die here, Fairy Tail," Tiran said as he clenched his fist and charged at them.

"There's no way we're going to die! Our friends put their lives on the line just so we could get here!" Natsu met Tiran's punch with one of equal caliber. The colliding fists created a shockwave that reverberated through the entire chamber.

"Cat Claw Attack!" Happy hissed and shredded the right sleeve of Tiran's cloak with his sharp claws. He had even managed to break a small portion of the skin underneath.

"Curse you, wretched vermin," Tiran growled. An invisible burst of magic power sent Happy flying backwards.

"Happy!" Natsu cried out. The blue cat snapped out of the daze he was in and positioned himself so he could bounce off the wall with his feet.

"You're not going to bring me down that easily. Cats are born survivors!" Happy exclaimed proudly. He bounced back at Tiran, who ducked to avoid the cat. Then, he performed a standing back flip to avoid being elbowed in the solar plexus by Natsu.

"You have a lucky streak," Tiran observed.

"Hey, that's my papa's name!" Happy exclaimed cheerfully at the mentioning of the word 'lucky'.

"Um…Good for you…" Tiran responded carefully, no longer sure how to go about the situation. "I'll give him your regards when I kill him. You'll soon be reunited in the afterlife."

"No need. I didn't come here to lose," Happy replied confidently. "This time, I won't just get Papa."

"Was that a play on words?" Natsu asked him.

"Aye!" the blue Exceed answered cheerfully.

"Happy, you're the coolest!" Natsu oozed over his cat. He picked Happy up and started to cuddle with him.

"No, Carla is!" Happy shook his head and smiled.

"Why'd you have to be the ones to get here…?" Tiran asked exasperatedly. "I think I'm on the verge of a migraine."

"My grains, your grains, we all scream for migraines!" Happy sang. "Somehow, that doesn't seem to work as well."

"Yeah. We'll think of something that can replace ice cream in that song," Natsu assured and turned back to Tiran. "Now, where were we?" He charged at Tiran once again, who threw him into an intact wall.

"You know, charging in like an idiot is incredibly unwise. Haven't you ever played shogi or chess?" Tiran asked, perplexed by Natsu's incessant recklessness. "Did you have a legitimate plan?"

"What's today? Wednesday?" Natsu asked.

"You plan your attacks by the days of the week?" Tiran growled. "I'm losing my patience with you." He threw Natsu into the wall repeatedly. "A world filled with bias lacks virtue. And a world filled with reckless knuckleheads is the reason why militaries fall. Give up. I will create a new world. You will not stop me. You've made your choice."

"Fortune favors the bold! Lucy told me that once," Natsu quoted. "And she said that suited me perfectly. Anyone who doesn't love Lucy is a heartless fool. She's the one who believed in me. She believed I could bring you to the ground! So there's no way I'm going to let her down now! Do you understand?!" With that, he slammed his head into Tiran's face, dazing him. He elbowed the man and then threw him.

"Oh, I remember that! That was at our fortune cookie party!" Happy recalled fondly.

"You people are crazy," Tiran muttered as he recovered in mid-air, and then kicked Natsu across the floor. The Fire Dragon Slayer caught himself and spit fireballs at the dark guild's master.

"We may be crazy, but we're head over heels in love with this world and a lot of the people in it! Give me one good reason why I should let you take that away from us!" Natsu countered. "If it ain't broke…" Natsu pulled a flame-enveloped fist back. "…Then don't fix it! And don't replace it!" With that, he slugged Tiran, sending him flying. The cloaked man caught himself and fired another Cosmic Radius at Happy, who dodged.

"Aye! Just because there are flaws in the world doesn't make it broken! It doesn't need to be replaced, especially not by the likes of you!" Happy snarled as he threw another flurry of punches.

Tiran was enduring punches left and right. Growling, he told them, "I'm impressed at your speed and strength, but don't expect me to surrender so easily." He landed on a wall and managed to plant himself on it. With a free hand, he took aim at Happy and Natsu (who happened to be in his line of sight). "Jupiter!"

"That's right! I forgot he can create Jupiter blasts with his bare hands!" Happy remembered and hit the ground. Natsu did the same thing. Tiran gathered immense, ultra-dense magic power and unleashed it, creating a huge crater in the opposite wall. It would have taken down the wall if anything was on the other side, but the chamber was the lowest point in the hideout and the wall he had blown down was the entrance wall.

"Watch where you aim those things!" Natsu yelled angrily as Tiran descended.

"I like this spell. Cosmic Saber!" Tiran called on another cosmic spell. Black energy that twinkled with starlight took the shape of a sword in his hands. "I'm the one who taught Bane and Strike to use swords. Sometimes, rainy days and kunai just don't cut it. Heh-heh. See what I did there?"

"You're a real comedian," Happy said flatly.

"Can we get back to the fight now?" Natsu asked impatiently.

"Earlier, you two fools were causing all kinds of distractions!" Tiran snarled at attacked them. "You've delayed your deaths long enough!"

Happy dodged the first swing of the saber. He told the masked man, "Sorry, but too many people are counting on me for me to die here. I've got people who believe in me, too!" Happy's wings started glowing. "I've got our friends from the other guilds who are counting on me. People like Erza, Gray, Jet, Droy, Levy, Gajeel, Pantherlily, the fisherman from down the street, Mira, Elfman, Lisanna, and Master Makarov know that I can do something, too!" With every name mentioned, his wings glowed brighter. "Wendy, Gildarts, Cana, Miss Porlyusica, Freed, Evergreen, Miss Shagotte, Myo, Mama, Papa, Lucy, Natsu, and Carla! They all believe in me! I'm going to make them all proud!" Happy suddenly sprouted four more wings. "SHINING AERA!" He invoked the legendary spell once again. Six shining wings shed light that gleamed brightly on his sword and shield. He seemed more regal and mature. His voice made it sound like three of him were talking simultaneously. "Once again, I'll stop you. You've committed crimes against life itself and tried to make yourself out as a god. In the end, you fell for your own lie."

"That parlor trick isn't as impressive the second time," Tiran scoffed and attempted to jab Happy. To his astonishment, Natsu bit the tip of the Cosmic Saber off and ate it. "What? How is that possible?!"

"Dragon Slayers love to try new things!" Natsu explained as he chewed the magic power. He swallowed, and suddenly his power intensified. "Oh, yeah! Now, I'm _really_ fired up!"


	20. Cosmic Shining Flame Dragon

**Here's chapter 20! I kind of don't want it to be the end so…it's not! I won't say much to spoil it, but I do have things planned for after this chapter.**

 **Happy: Now it's time for noteworthy trivial stuff!**

 **Carla: That was an oxymoron!**

 **This chapter, without this author's note, is over 4,500 words long, which is minuscule compared to the way some other people write, but as an individual piece of mine, it's a record for me. Also, with this chapter, For the Sake of the World will be the longest story I've ever written word-quantity-wise. Next chapter will top my chapter-quantity record.**

 **Happy: Three Little Words was finished on August 4** **th** **of last year, so Myo is a year and twelve days old as of today.**

 **Enough of that, now. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Happy: Tell your friends!**

 **Chapter 20: Cosmic Shining Flame Dragon**

Natsu was radiating with a new kind of power. It surged through him in ways he couldn't describe. It was like when he bit into the giant lacrima during the Tower of Heaven incident. To put it simply, it was a wild ride.

Happy was shining like a star with six angelic wings. He looked like a cat knight sent from heaven. He had spent hours upon hours training and honing his reserve of magic power, along with his body's ability to endure it. However, this was only the second time he had ever invoked the Shining Aera, a super rare, advanced form of the standard Aera magic. In Edolas' past, Exceeds who had the ability to harness Shining Aera were considered guardians of Extalia.

Tiran, even with all his power, knew he would be on the ropes now. He snarled, "So that's how it's going to be! I underestimated your latent abilities, but I must emerge victorious in order to create a new world!"

"We're fighting for the sake of the world! As long as you continue to threaten it, we will stop you!" Happy vowed with his tripled voice.

Natsu blew intensely blew smoke from his nostrils, growling, "That's right! There's no stopping us! _We're_ the ones who are gonna win! Ditch your plans and go home or else!"

"My plans? Boy, it's my purpose to create a new world. It is my resolve. It is my ambition! Fairy Tail will just be a footnote in the history of the old world!" Tiran assured. He was confident in spite of the circumstances. "I will not concede to you again! Cosmic Radius! Times seven!" Seven bursts of cosmic power were fired at Natsu and Happy. All seven bursts were deflected. Happy deflected two with his sword and two with his shield. Natsu deflected three with his fists.

"I won't let you win! There are people who live in this world who want to relish it! I want to relish it with Carla! We love this world!" Happy stated as he charged. His senses were sharpened. His mind was clearer. His reflexes were faster. He, with his sword, and Tiran, with a reformed Cosmic Saber, were soon locked in an intense sword fight. Swing, swing, block, jab! Clang, parry, feint, boom! They were going so fast that their movements just looked like a flurry of movement. Their arms didn't even look real anymore.

"You're suddenly more skilled. I suppose that magic is comparable to a steroid," Tiran concluded as he made a swing for Happy's neck, but the blue cat instantly moved his sword to block. "Incredible reflexes."

"Thank you," Happy politely thanked his opponent as he smacked him with his shield. Tiran jumped back to lessen the force of the blow, and then morphed his Cosmic Saber into a Cosmic Radius, which Happy blocked with his shield.

"Now, it's my turn!" Natsu roared and charged with his flames a mixture of red and black, sparkling with white starlight. "Cosmic Flame Dragon…Meteor Fist!" With a punch of flames enhanced by the cosmic energy coursing through his veins, he slugged Tiran, and the masked man went soaring into the opposite wall, creating yet another huge crater. The walls in the hideout were certainly taking a lot of abuse, weren't they? They were the kind of walls that deserved a medal for all their time in service.

"Absorbing the tip of my Cosmic Saber has given you superhuman strength," Tiran said with great interest. "I'd love to gauge your power! Really, I would! But as you are, I can't afford to resort to my usual methodology. I guess I'll just have to be extra observant!"

"You sound like a mad scientist," Natsu muttered.

"Aye," Happy agreed. The villain turned over a creepy leaf, to say the least.

"Nyx Bisector!" Tiran called on a different spell. A blade of black energy took formation and flew at the Dragon Slayer and Exceed. Happy managed to block with his shield.

"You've got all sorts of tricks up your sleeve," Natsu remarked as he went in for another Meteor Fist. Tiran moved forward and then stopped, taking Natsu's fist in his hand. He was forced back into the wall.

"Very interesting! Yes, yes, the immenseness of your power reminds me of—" Tiran spoke, but never got to finish that sentence. He took a knee to the gut from Natsu. "Impressive! I may have to unleash some of my most fearsome spells! You really are tempting me to whip out the whole arsenal!" Tiran slammed both fists over Natsu's head, and then he elbowed him. He swiftly jumped high up and dodged Happy's attempt to jab him from behind. "And you—you my dear feline are smarter than you look! At the very least, you're smart enough not to try to sneak up on someone in their peripheral vision!"

"He sensed me and reacted that quickly? What is he?" Happy mumbled to himself. Tiran whipped up another Abyss Break, and Happy used his shield to protect himself and Natsu from the intense explosion of magic power.

"I don't know how you're so strong," Natsu started, suddenly behind Tiran, "but I'll turn out stronger! I swear it on Gramps' grave! Cosmic Flame Dragon Talon!" With his right foot enveloped in galactic flames, he axe-kicked Tiran into the ground, and the impact let loose a wild shockwave.

"Master Makarov is still alive, you know," Happy reminded his partner. Tiran rose, and Happy gripped Natsu to keep him from falling. They both watched the masked, cloaked man carefully.

"I haven't enjoyed a fight like this in a long time! In all my years, you'll stand out the most! I swear it!" Tiran vowed. His voice was no longer as calm as it was. He did not seem at all cool and collected anymore. His blood was boiling from the thrill of the fight. He could hardly contain his excitement.

"I think he's about to pull something. And I think it'll be big," Happy whispered in Natsu's ear.

"Yeah. He's different now," Natsu replied and nodded in agreement.

Tiran started to gather up magic power. The magic materialized around him as cosmic energy. The energy took the shape of his body and began to expand until it became a Cosmic Avatar, a colossal cosmic spell that summoned a giant made of power that moved according to the caster's will.

"Geez, that thing's huge! You got a plan, little man?" Natsu asked as his onyx eyes gazed back as his feline buddy.

"Yeah. It's totally crazy; so crazy, in fact, that it might work," Happy responded. "I think we should try a Unison Raid."

"Oh, that magic fusion thingy! Let's do it!" Natsu seemed to like that idea. "Lucy, Juvia, Wendy, and Gray have done a few of those."

"So have you, as I recall. With Gajeel and Wendy in Edolas. And I think you and Romeo even combined your fire power once," Happy reminded him. "You ready?"

"Do you need to ask? Cosmic Flame Dragon…!"

"Shining Aera…!"

"UNISON RAID!" they shouted out together. Their powers became one. They understood each other's thoughts. It was almost as though they were the same being.

"Your little powers of friendship have grown to be quite bothersome. It's annoying and unpractical to think you can gain power from having friends," Tiran spat. His Cosmic Avatar tried to seize the two Fairy Tail wizards in a crushing grip, but Natsu and Happy used Happy's sword to cut off the hand at the wrist. Tiran suddenly lost feeling from his wrist to his fingertips. "Blast! A drawback of using this spell is until I dispel it, any detached limbs on the Avatar are useless on me… In spite of that, I will smite you!"

"Not on our watch! Cosmic Shining Flame Dragon… ROOOOOOAR!" Happy and Natsu roared together, flames as bright as the sun spraying the Cosmic Avatar.

"You're wrong! Friendship is a wonderful thing!" Natsu bellowed.

"It's a motivator! If you had someone who believed in you—someone who you wanted to protect—wouldn't you feel like doing whatever it took to protect them?! To help make their dreams come true?!" Happy elaborated. "It's because of the people who trust us and believe in us that we can go on! It's not a power! It's more than that! It's our drive! It adds a little extra fuel to our fire—no pun intended!"

"Enough of your rubbish!" Tiran bellowed as the Cosmic Avatar went in to chop at them with its other hand. They dodged and flew down to its ankles.

"Cosmic Shining Flame Dragon… Tail Swipe!" Happy and Natsu called out together. Happy's tail blazed with the same flares that their roar was made of. He swiped his tail at the Avatar's ankles, tripping it and causing it to fall.

As the Cosmic Avatar fell, Tiran dispelled it so he could land on his feet. His numb hand regained feeling. Tiran let out a small breath, and then chuckled ominously. "I still have one more trick. My trump card. A spell that's been forbidden for centuries because it was deemed that no human could master it! But what the Magic Council doesn't even have record of is that one human did master it! In fact, a few hundred years ago, after Zeref finally left his hometown; there was a mass homicide that he was blamed for! But it wasn't Zeref who had laid all those people to rest. It was I!"

"You're really starting to peeve us!" Natsu and Happy growled. They couldn't just stand by as this man boasted about his crimes, especially not after they had given a grand speech about how their friends and loved ones had driven them to succeed.

Meanwhile, in the arena above, Lucy and Carla gazed down the spiraling hall worriedly. Erza tried to reassure them, "I'm sure they're fine. It's Natsu and Happy we're talking about. Those two could—and keep in mind that they have already done what I'm about to say—stare death in the face and not budge. This time won't be any different."

"I know, but Erza…you feel that magic power, too, don't you?" Lucy asked solemnly.

"I do. All three of them are giving off the most intense magic power I've ever felt," Erza replied honestly. "And I was with Natsu when he engaged the Dragon Force. That's how I know that he won't lose."

"Wait!" Carla exclaimed, realizing something. "Back up a moment! You just said 'all three of them', so that means… Yes! It must mean Happy has activated the Shining Aera!"

"This power…" Alistair mumbled, stirring in the rift between consciousness and unconsciousness.

"H-he's still alive?!" Crimson stammered and hugged Garnet.

"Not now, Crim… My back is killing me…" Garnet muttered.

Suddenly, Alistair's eyes shot open. He gasped, "Oh, no! Strike, wake up! The Master… Master Tiran is using _that_ spell! The spell Hino always bragged about seeing with his own eyes!"

"You'd think he'd be the right hand man since he's been with him the longest. Somehow you are," Strike muttered, half-conscious.

"You know neither of us is as young as we look," Alistair reminded him. "Seri was always the baby of the four of us."

"Um…just what are you talking about?" Carla felt the need to ask.

"Seri's nineteen," Strike answered, which was a vague and almost irrelevant answer.

"She's nineteen and she's having a baby?!" Erza gasped, not that that was the point either.

"Then…how old are _you_?" Lucy dared to ask.

"I'm in my early hundreds," Strike answered. "Actually, I'm two years younger than your guild."

"So you're 103 years old?!" Lucy gasped, amazed at the age. When she was younger, she wanted to join the Fairy Tail guild so badly that all she did was research it. That was how she knew how old it was.

"You're so limber!" Erza marveled. "Do you take glucosamine supplements?"

"Erza, we need you to focus, please!" Carla requested exasperatedly.

"Shark in the pool!" Erza replied. "No, seriously." A pool with a shark in it had emerged from the floor.

"He's agitated because of the spell that Master Tiran is about to use. Though it will be our demise, it's a pleasure to know that as a guild, we won't fail," Alistair grunted, too weak to move. "You feel it, too. The magic power skyrocketing? That's our Guild Master's ultimate spell! It's been forbidden ever since a human attempted it centuries ago and not only destroyed his own body, but vaporized his entire hometown as well. All that was left was a smoking crater."

"Then isn't what he's about to do suicide?!" Erza grabbed Alistair's collar and shook him, giving the arena the atmosphere of an intense interrogation. "It doesn't make sense. That spell sounds like a murder-suicide spell! Won't Tiran die, too?!"

"No, no. He's the first and only human to get it right in the history of the spell!" Alistair claimed and cackled sinisterly.

"Crimson, do you know what he's talking about?" Carla asked, trying not to cry at the thought of Happy taking on the brunt of such an attack.

"No! I-I have no idea!" Crimson shook his head as tears formed in his eyes. "But I don't wanna die yet! I-I've finally turned over a new leaf and I'm making lots of new friends! I have a mommy and a stepdad and a big brother and a sibling on the way! I don't wanna die!"

"We'll make it out, Little Bro," Garnet assured, regretting saying it. He wanted to believe it, but he wasn't sure how. He felt like he was lying to himself. "We'll make it out. I promise." _What the heck am I saying? The odds are against us! It's hopeless! Maybe I'm just trying to act like a big brother and make him feel better…_

"You're right," Erza told the older red cat firmly. "We will make it out. None of us are going to die in here. Not even you Cursed Fang elites. Natsu and Happy will prevail! I swear it on my soul! We're all going back together!" Her words, strong and pure, resonated with the hopes that were almost buried under the bleakness of the situation.

Even Alistair and Strike were touched. Heck, even the shark in the pool was touched by the tender moment. Strike rasped, "We're your enemy… You'd save even us…"

"Yes. I would," Erza replied, still unwavering. "Call me a mess of a dreamer if you want, but Natsu and Happy will defeat that spell. We'll all return to the surface alive."

"Erza!" Gray ran in, leading all of their friends who had gotten separated from them. "Some have agreed to turn over a new leaf. Anyone else was forcefully apprehended."

"We have a new friend!" Wendy and Chelia announced, each holding one of Avia's hands.

"And I rescued all the kitties!" Millianna announced, holding a large amount of Exceeds in her arms.

"We finished playing catch-up!" Levy announced, holding her cream-colored, bespectacled Exceed partner, Ester.

"Are we just waiting on Salamander now?" Gajeel asked.

"Yeah. Happy, too," Erza replied. "They're about to finish the job." Under her breath, she muttered, "May our souls reach them…"

Carla, while she believed in Happy, was terrified of the possibility that she would lose him. She did her best not to cry, but imagining the pain she would be in if anything were to happen to him was proving to be overwhelming. Tears formed. Suddenly, she felt a strong pair of furry arms wrap around her. It was Pantherlily. She looked back and up at him. With a confident smirk, he said, "Now what kind of stepfather would I be if I didn't give my princess a hug in her time of need?"

"You make yourself sound more like an affectionate vassal than a stepfather," Carla said as she wiped her tears and managed a smile. She sniffled, "I love him."

"And he loves you," Pantherlily told her as if she needed to be reminded.

"KAH! He's a man in the making, Carla. I know you trust him. That goes without saying," Lucky shouted as he crossed his arms and waited for his son to come back.

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered. Her voice was nearly inaudible. "Please come back to me. We've been through too much for it to end like this… I…I love…"

Back in the Guild Master's chamber, Tiran was drawing immense power. He condensed it into a ball of cosmic energy. Happy gasped, "That's an ultra-dense ball of magic power!"

"And it's still growing!" Tiran informed them. The two Fairy Tail wizards advanced, trying to stop him, but he would make small movements and epically dodge every time. "There is no escaping this spell."

Natsu let out a low growl. He could feel that his breathing was still synchronized with Happy's. He whispered to him, "We're not out of the game yet."

"Yeah. It won't be easy, but if we can blitz him at the right time—"

"It's rude to whisper in front of your gracious host!" Tiran scolded teasingly. "Now…are you ready to meet your doom?"

"Hey, I just realized that 'doom' is 'mood' backwards!" Natsu suddenly realized.

"But we're not moody!" Happy teased Tiran playfully. "Silly Tiran! Fish are for cats!"

"I've had enough of your games," Tiran said warningly. "Now, face my ultimate spell! COSMIC BUSTER!" The ball of cosmic energy exploded, expanding rapidly. It was like a black hole of death in a ball!

"COSMIC SHINING FLAME DRAGON SWORD HORN!" As bright as a solar flare and as sharp as a spear that could penetrate any shield, Natsu and Happy charged forward, hitting the Cosmic Buster head on. It was like running face-first into a steel dome that was thirty feet thick and the dome had rotating spikes. The impact reverberated throughout the room. It shook the earth.

The Fairy Tail duo started to spin in their attack, and they were relentless about it. Faster and faster they spun, becoming a shining drill of hope. They thought about all that was going on. They thought of all the people who believed in them. Lives were on the line now more than ever. They couldn't fail. They needed to defeat this spell as soon as possible or all of their friends would die. They finally managed to pierce the bubble of cosmic power…

BOOM!

…and it blew up in their faces. The explosion was so great that it compromised the entire foundation of the underground hideout. The rock and soil began to crumble. The cave was due to collapse. Still, the two kept going through the blast until they reached its epicenter, Tiran, and landed the blow. They were determined to make sure they brought Tiran with them if they were going down.

Everything went white. Happy, Natsu, and Tiran saw a bright light that was all around them. Tiran sighed, "You two… You two have done the impossible. I acquired powers similar to an intermediate god's power, surpassing that of a God Slayer by many levels. I used the most destructive spell forbidden by man. I gathered a variety of strong wizards. I even stooped to a level as low as kidnapping Exceeds to cope with my frustration over you and Crimson, blue one. I lost. And yet…this was my finest hour. See you on the other side. Or maybe in a reincarnated life. You won't take me alive. Not this time. Detonation Element: Stardust Reduction."

Happy and Natsu watched quietly as Tiran crumbled away to nothingness and was scattered to the wind. They looked at each other. Happy asked, "Is this the end?"

"No way. You should know that," Natsu answered with a smile.

Happy smiled as well. "You're right!" He looked around. There was just a vast white space before them. "But how do we get out? I don't see a door or anything."

"Uh…We break something!" Natsu suggested. Then it hit him. "Oh, right. Nothing to break. Uh… Oh, crap. How do we get out?!"

"I don't know!" Happy panicked. They both started running around, screaming.

In the midst of their speaking, a feminine voice spoke up, "If you could please quiet down, I think I can show you the way."

The two boys stopped panicking to look at a woman who was the spitting image of Lucy. Natsu let out a great sigh of relief. He said, "Oh, Lucy, am I glad to see you!"

"What? Oh, dear, the resemblance has struck again!" the woman giggled. She explained herself. "I know I may look like Lucy, but I'm—"

"Her twin sister, Goosey!" Natsu exclaimed.

"…I'm her mother, Layla. You're a shameless flatterer, aren't you?" the woman laughed and said teasingly.

A white Exceed dressed in blue descended before them. Happy looked at his eyes. They were the same shade of brown as Carla's eyes. The Exceed introduced himself, "Hi. I'm Cedric, late king of Extalia, home of the Exceeds. Well, former home, to my understanding."

"You're Carla's father!" Happy exclaimed and suddenly hugged him. "Thank you so much for taking part in giving that beautiful vision life! Thank you!" Happy broke down into tears and relentlessly thanked Cedric.

"My daughter has taken a liking to a good young man. Odd, I admit, but you have a good heart, Happy. I've watched over her and I was so impressed with you that I thought 'okay, maybe I can have more than one client as a guardian angel'," Cedric told the blue cat as he hugged him back. "Carla… What a beautiful name…"

"Natsu…!" a familiar voice called out in the distance.

"Huh? Did you say something, Miss Layla?" Natsu asked Layla.

"No. Now, hurry! Follow that voice! Go, go!" Layla prompted and shoved Natsu toward the distant voice.

"Happy…!" another familiar voice called out.

"That voice!" Happy exclaimed and let go of Cedric.

"Go, go! You, too! Go follow those voices!" Cedric shoved Happy off on his way.

"O-Okay. Thank you for—" Happy turned around to thank the two departed ones, but they had departed once again.

"Happy, please come back to me…!" the second voice cried. Happy whirled back around and ran toward it.

"Hey, wait for me!" Natsu called out and ran.

"You can't die yet, Natsu! I-I haven't told you how I feel yet! I haven't told you that after all this time…I've fallen in love with you…!" the first voice cried.

"Now I recognize that voice! That's Lucy! In all her glory, I hope," Natsu exclaimed with a smirk as soon as he recognized the voice.

"Don't worry, Carla, I'm coming!" Happy called back as he kept running. The two kept running toward the voices. They couldn't see the girls calling out to them, but their voices grew louder as they approached. Faster and faster, they ran. They had to keep running. Sure, they were willing to die for their friends, but they knew they were of better use living for them.

"Don't worry, Lucy!" Natsu called out. "I'm almost there!"

"Carla!" Happy called out.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled.

"Happy…!" Carla sobbed.

"Natsu…!" Lucy cried.

"We're almost there!" Natsu and Happy called out to them with one last powerful stride.

Then, their eyes shot open. Happy felt Carla hug him. She sobbed as she hugged him, "How dare you make me worry, you foolish tomcat! Oh, forget the formalities! I'm just thrilled to bits that you're alive!"

"Yeah… I'm alive… Don't worry, Carla… You're too important to leave behind…" Happy spoke softly, weakly. "He put up quite a fight…"

"But we won…!" Natsu stated victoriously, not unlike when he fought Hino.

"So I see," Lucy commented pleasantly as she wiped her eyes. "You really had me going there, but you're tough as nails. No, wait, you're tougher than nails."

"So, I hear that you're in love with me…" Natsu whispered in Lucy's ear.

Blushing, the blonde sheepishly asked, "Did I say that…?"

"Yeah, you did…" Natsu answered in confirmation, smiling. "I feel the same way… You're all around awesome, Luce. Don't ever change that about yourself."

"O-Okay," Lucy promised with a tearful smile.

"Awesome… We won…!" Natsu repeated, relishing the victory. "I just wish I could move… This would be a good time for a victory dance…"

"Same here…" Happy groaned. "Carla, can I ask you a favor…?"

"Oh, come here, you!" Carla exclaimed as she helped the blue cat up. "Lean on me. I'll be swift."

"We kind of have to be quick," Lucy stated as she hoisted Natsu onto her back.

"Why's that…?" Natsu asked, somewhat dazed from the fight.

"The only reason this place hasn't caved in yet is because of Jura and some kid named Geon. The moment they release their magic, this place is coming down, and they can't hold on forever," Lucy explained.

"WHAAAT?!" Natsu and Happy cried out in shock.

"It's infinitely better than the alternative: a smoldering crater with not even the remains of our bodies," Carla pointed out as she trudged along with Happy in tow.

Getting out of a maze from its endpoint to its starting point proved to be a lot easier than going into one from said starting point, especially if the maze runs vertically as this one did. What had taken them a long time to get through had turned into a straightforward ten-minute trip to get out of.

Jura and Geon were standing at the entrance, casting their earth magic on the cave to keep it standing. Everyone, be they friends, enemies, or reformers, had made it out alive. The only one who was nowhere to be found was Tiran.

"What happened to the master?! Where is Master Tiran?!" Alistair asked urgently.

"Don't know. Hap and I saw him turn to dust and fly away," Natsu reported.

"You killed him?!" Alistair shouted, earning a scowl from Lucy and no response from a clearly tired Natsu.

"It was more like he killed himself. He said something about a detonation element and disappeared, saying stuff like 'see you in the next life'," Happy reported as he on Carla's shoulder.

"So that's it? He's just…given up?!" Alistair fell to his knees, unable to cope with the fact that his leader was gone. "What will happen to Cursed Fang?" Tears had dripped like rain down his hardened face.

"Cursed Fang is dead," Juvia spoke, being blunt. "You'll have to move on now."

"Alistair Bane, Strike, and others, you are going to your hearings once the Rune Knights arrive to take you away. Those who have light or no charges and have decided to make a change for themselves will try to find work at legal guilds, I presume."

"We'll take this one!" Kagura immediately grabbed Avia.

"Can I have these kitties?" Millianna asked innocently, still holding the pile of Exceeds.

"Millianna, having a pet is a big responsibility. It's like marriage," Erza gave Millianna a big, long speech about responsibility.

"What does changing the litter box have to do with marriage?" Millianna asked at the end of Erza's speech.

"I guess you missed the point," Erza sighed.

"Can you blame her? That comparison sucked," Gray claimed.

"Man, I'm beat… Let's go home, everybody!" Natsu suggested.

"AYE, SIR!" everyone replied heartily.


	21. The Aftermath

**Okay,** _ **this**_ **is the last chapter. It was sort of my way of throwing a few small ideas into the story at the last minute. I've always found that ending a story is harder than starting one. This is something I find odd because I always aim to see a story through to the end. Otherwise I kill it completely—meaning I delete it and never think of it again, and I think that's only happened twice at most. At least once that's happened.**

 **Happy: That was a long time ago, too. So, anyway, thanks to all you viewers who read this story. Thanks to those of you who added it to your favorites and thanks to those of you who reviewed it.**

 **Myo: Thank you! You're awesome!**

 **The readers fuel the fire for the authors, you guys, so thanks again for all of your support!**

 **Happy: Tell your friends! Have a fish once in a while! And enjoy the chapter!**

 **Hey! That's my line!**

 **Carla: Also, thank you, TheGreatSakura for lending Ruby and Garnet to Pokémon Ranger-Trainer once again, as well as lending him Aquamarine for her Fan Fiction debut. Okay, now you may sit back and enjoy this rather fluffy and cute installment, if I do say so myself.**

 **Chapter 21: The Aftermath**

And so, the Allied Forces returned to their respective guilds in their respective towns. Lucy ended up piggybacking Natsu the entire way back to Magnolia Town, which certainly wasn't easy to pull off and even harder to forget. Wendy carried both Happy and Carla as Happy was immobile at the time and she always held Carla.

"Wendy, you look rather depressed. Is something wrong?" Carla asked as she looked up at Wendy.

The blue haired girl sighed and claimed, "I really wanted Avia-chan to come join Fairy Tail…"

"You can't win them all, child," Carla sighed. She looked over at Happy, who was disturbingly limp. "Happy, when do you think you will move again?"

"I don't know. Soon, I bet. I'm not worried. Actually, I kind of don't want to move," Happy replied with a yawn. "I'm so tired…" Carla couldn't help but smile at his answer.

"Need… zesty breakfast burrito…" Natsu mumbled as he slept on Lucy's back.

"Doesn't he hurt your back, Lucy?" Gray asked curiously.

"No. Actually, I feel pretty balanced," Lucy stated pleasantly. Even if it was a bit of a bother, she didn't mind. Natsu had gotten her out of more jams than she could count. On top of that, he looked rather cute when he was sleeping and not inadvertently burning villages to the ground.

They reached Magnolia and they raced to the guild hall with unbridled joy. Cursed Fang was dead. The path of victory was for the legal guilds. They were all very proud of their accomplishment. And…

"Mommy, you laid the egg!" Crimson exclaimed in awe as he studied the red markings on the large, white egg.

"And Miss Porlyusica said it's due to hatch at anytime now!" Ruby claimed excitedly.

"Also, we planned on joining Fairy Tail! How's that sound to y'all?" Salberay said with more than a hint of enthusiasm. He pulled off his jacket to show off his black guild mark.

"We're joining? That's awesome!" Garnet exclaimed. He glanced off to his right to see little blue Azure and the ever radiant blue Aquamarine. He worked up his nerve, walked over to them, and said, "You know, they say blue is the warmest color of all."

"Do they now?" Aquamarine asked pleasantly. "That was pretty bold. So, are you joining Fairy Tail, too?"

 _Too?! Oh, yes!_ "Yeah, I am. My whole family is," Garnet replied with a warm smile.

"Great! It has an awesome reputation, right?" Aquamarine began making small talk with Garnet. Azure walked over to the egg, standing next to Crimson, and watched the vessel of birth patiently.

Suddenly, the egg began to move. It shook. Then it bounced. A crack appeared on the patterned shell. And a baby red Exceed with an orange tail tip and matching orange cheek blushes broke out. Ruby held the baby, announcing, "It's a girl!"

"Howdy!" the kitten said in a small, cute baby voice.

"She looks more like her Ma, but she acts just like her Pa!" Salberay cried—no, sobbed tears of joy.

"Oh, my little Scarlet!" Ruby fawned over the baby in her arms.

"Now Myo has a new little friend!" Shagotte pleasantly realized.

"Aye!" Myo agreed.

"She's so cute!" Cana gushed over the kitten.

"Look at how sweet she is!" Levy gasped excitedly. Ester gently tickled Scarlet's stomach, summoning adorable baby giggling from the red kitten.

"What a sweet, soft little kitten!" Gajeel oozed as he admired Scarlet.

"Oh, I love the name! It's so strong and youthful!" Erza commended, but it came off as thinly veiled self-praise, not that it wasn't.

"Has anyone seen my lighter?" Wakaba asked openly.

"I'm right here," Macao announced to him.

"No, the one I keep in my pocket!" Wakaba clarified.

"Say, where are Happy and Natsu?" Gray asked curiously.

"Lucy-san and Carla took them back to their house so they could rest up," Wendy stated as she was stuffing her face with sweets. She held out a plate of pudding to him. "Want some, Gray-san?"

"No thanks. You can have it," Gray passed up the offer.

"Stare…" Mavis uttered creepily as she stared at Wendy's pudding.

"F-First Master!" Wendy exclaimed in shock.

"Oh, c'mon, Wendy, let me have some! Please!" Mavis begged.

"What does a ghost want with pudding?" Gray asked.

"Gray, Gray, Gray," Mavis began a lecture, "you will never reach enlightenment like the Buddha if you ask these questions so blindly. You need lots of meditation and fiber in your diet!"

"Maybe I don't want to be Buddha!" Gray exclaimed defiantly.

Meanwhile, Natsu and Happy were sitting at home, resting in bed. Carla was wearing a tiny maid outfit, feeding Happy some fish. Happy looked like he had gone to heaven, given the goofy grin on his face. Carla grinned as well, glad to be making the blue cat feel like his name. She told him, "You really are a hero. I know some people underestimate you, but I never will. Especially not after today."

"Thanks, Carla!" Happy politely thanked her. "You're the best!"

"I am…?" Carla asked, blushing intensely.

"Aye!" Happy replied with his honest opinion and signature answer to just about everything.

Lucy was holding Wakaba's lighter to Natsu's face, watching as he ate the flames off of it. She smiled as she thought back to when she first saw him ate fire. She wished she had seen the look on her face then. It must have been pretty funny. She told him, "You know, you're absolutely crazy…"

"Nothing like the flames from Wakaba's lighter to cure a tummy ache!" Natsu said with satisfaction and let out a loud belch. "Eating that Cosmic Buster thing made me feel sick as a dog after the fight, but I was too beat to feel it until a little while ago. When you return that, can you tell Wakaba I said 'thanks for the antacid'?"

"The things I do for you," Lucy sighed. Then she laughed. "I ought to be saying 'the things you do for me'—and pretty much everyone. Sure, I'll tell him." She winked and then said, "Leave it to me."

"You rock, Luce," Natsu yawned as he drifted off to sleep.

"Aye!" Happy yawned.

Carla tucked him in and asked, "Would you like me to fetch your parents for you? I'm sure they're on their way back now with more fish. Seriously, it's only a hop, skip, and a jump away."

"No thanks, Carla. I think I'll be asleep when they get back," Happy claimed. "Thanks for getting me out of there."

"It's only because of you and Natsu that any of us are even alive," Carla hugged him and stated. "Thank you for saving our lives."

"Carla… I saw your father when I… I don't know what I was then. When I was knocked out, I guess. You have his eyes. I'm glad I got to meet him, especially because I love your eyes," Happy explained his meeting with King Cedric to her. She took in every word and analyzed each one in her mind.

"You met the late king?" She finally spoke.

"Aye! He was so nice!" Happy confirmed. She smiled and kissed his forehead. "And we met Lucy's mama, too! Natsu thought she was your twin sister, Lucy!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Lucy asked as she was halfway out the door. She paused for a second and said, "Thank you, Happy." Then, under her breath, she whispered, "Thank you, Mom, for bringing him back to me."

"Rest well, Happy, and may you dream of mountains of fish and having reign over them all," Carla spoke softly and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Aye!" Happy said before passing out from the ecstasy of her sweet kiss combined with the thought of being King of All Things Fish in his dreams. Soon, he was sleeping soundly.

"Are you coming?" Lucy asked, waiting for Carla.

"Go on ahead, Lucy. I'll wait for Miss Marl and Mr. Lucky to get back," Carla urged. Hesitantly, the blonde left, leaving the white cat along with the blue cat and the pink haired human (though he didn't always seem human). She let out a sigh and began to pray to her departed father. "Thank you, Daddy. He's a nice boy, I promise you. I've been a lucky little queen to have met him, aren't I? And to have you watching over me. And over him. Thank you."

"Oh, Carla…" Happy moaned in his sleep. "You look so good in that dress. It goes well with that fish…"

In response to this, Carla stifled a giggle and yawned into her paw. She mumbled, "We've all had a long day. I think I'll just rest my head for a moment…" She laid her head down on Happy's bed, smiled, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

About ten minutes passed when Marl came in with a big bag full of fish. She grinned from ear to ear when she saw Carla resting her head and arms on Happy's bed, fast asleep. She thought about how she could worry a little less knowing a responsible young lady was almost always with her little boy on all of his adventures and misadventures alike. She briefly placed the bag on a table, got a spare blanket from the linen closet, and draped it over Carla's shoulders.

"Sweet dreams," Marl whispered softly and went to store the fish away in the kitchen.

"Yes, Happy… Two lumps, please… Thank you," Carla mumbled in her sleep, dreaming she was having a tea party with Happy. She loved that adorable, goofy grin of his. She was enchanted by his blue fur. His youthful voice was music to her ears and serenaded her dreams. His huge, dark eyes spurred her on with their cuteness. Perhaps his passionate heart was what captivated her most of all. She was perfectly content with her silly blue tomcat.

 **The end**

 **Scarlet: (has her brothers hogtied)**

 **Salberay: That's my girl!**

 **Ruby: Oh, boys! (unties them)**

 **Natsu: Zzz…**

 **Gray: Where's the bathroom? I gotta take a leak.**

 **Lucy: TMI, Gray!**

 **Azure: Thank you all once again for reading.**

 **Aquamarine: It was an honor being read by you! That sounded better in my head…**

 **Plue: (holds up a sign that says "That's All, Folks")**


End file.
